Jeff's Reviews

Thoughts on every movie I've ever seen.

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

Directed by Joel Coen

Starring Tim Robbins, Paul Newman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Charles Durning

Author

Kind of a fantasy and satire of capitalism, just like Brazil or Metropolis. A super-exaggeration of a capitalist society and working world. Overall, a bit too surreal for me, almost a spoof. The satire goes overboard.

A rags-to-riches-to-rags-to riches story. Good story, but I’m sure I’ve seen the same storyline somewhere else (maybe The Secret of My Success or Major League). It’s not totally clear how he became president, though. Cool-ass metaphorical twist near the end. With the stopping of the commercially-built clock tower, commercialism stops, and so does Robbins, a product of commercialism. And the dark ending works perfectly.

Very Cohn. Well-made. A nice, old school feel. A beautiful marriage of image (great cinematography) and music. It is a color film, but it looks very monochromatic (notice the predominance of browns, yellows, and grays). All the shots are very symmetrical and commercial-looking.

Eerie at times. And some real comedy, too. The tapping balls stopping in Newman’s office was hilarious. And so was the slap on the face. And so was the kid with the hula hoop. The comedy was almost Chevy-ish at times.

Good characters. A great performance by Robbins. He always seems to play the “average guy victimized by society” with such perfection. Buscemi appears once again, but where is McDormand?

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *