The Hudsucker Proxy is one of the Coen Brothers' minor entries in the pure comedy genre. It is by no means terrible, in fact, it is very funny, but compared to most of their remaining oeuvre, it lacks something. It is able to keep the laughs moving, but they come a little cheaper then usual.
The story concerns Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins), a recent college
graduate, who inadvertently winds up as CEO for a giant
corporation after the untimely demise of the company's founder. Barnes
is given the position by the former CEO's right-hand man, Sidney J.
Mussburger (Paul Newman) to scare the stock market so that the
company's stocks will come down in value enough that the board can buy
a controlling share before the public is able to. Jennifer Jason Leigh
plays Amy Archer, a Pulitzer winning journalist who falls for Barnes
after labeling him an idiot in her paper.
The Hudsucker Proxy is a play on the screwball comedy movies of the late thirties to early fifties. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington especially comes to mind. The idea seems to be that Proxy is a send-up of the screwball genres. The typically eccentric characters and borderline ridiculous situations are pushed a little bit further then usual. However, the movie seems to actually be a screwball comedy, albeit with a bit higher octane fuel then normal. It fails to really push the genre over the edge.
The characters are amusing, but two-dimensional. Barnes is intelligent, but naive. Archer is the typical movie reporter - always sarcastic, always unwilling to make real inter-personal contact. Mussburger is the vile company man whose eye never leaves the bottom line. They don't make for very interesting characters, but as caricatures, which is what a comic farce needs at times, they do their jobs adequately.
Stylistically, the film is a typical Coen Brothers postmodern mish-mash of a particular film era, this time the forties. The snappy dialogue, naive protagonist, and cynical, worldly leading lady are obvious throwbacks. The Coens have definitely done their research and make perfect use of the various era-specific devices, including Citizen Kane-esque over-the-top visuals. This filmic playfulness adds a lot to the comedy, at least for someone who is aware of film conventions in the black-and-white days.
That leads to one of the films biggest accomplishments- while Proxy is replete with elements that only a certified film buff could immediately grasp, it is very accessible to modern audiences who aren't aware of what is going on between the lines. The dialogue, story, characters, and situations are funny in themselves, but the references to film history make the text richer for those with some knowledge of cinematic history (at least those who aren't repelled by the mile-wide postmodern streak).
Overall, this is a very funny movie, but it can't match the bizarre humor found in other Coen films such as Raising Arizona, or The Big Lebowski. By sticking too close to the material to which they make homage, they may have fallen short. Making a screwball comedy is not the same as making a satire of screwball comedies. The film maker siblings didn't drop the hula hoop completely, they just couldn't keep the pace up to their usual level.
Technorati Tags: movie review, coen brothers, hudsucker proxy, tim robbins, paul newman, jennifer jason leigh, screwball, movies, movie, film, cinema, review
The story concerns Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins), a recent college
graduate, who inadvertently winds up as CEO for a giant
corporation after the untimely demise of the company's founder. Barnes
is given the position by the former CEO's right-hand man, Sidney J.
Mussburger (Paul Newman) to scare the stock market so that the
company's stocks will come down in value enough that the board can buy
a controlling share before the public is able to. Jennifer Jason Leigh
plays Amy Archer, a Pulitzer winning journalist who falls for Barnes
after labeling him an idiot in her paper.
The Hudsucker Proxy is a play on the screwball comedy movies of the late thirties to early fifties. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington especially comes to mind. The idea seems to be that Proxy is a send-up of the screwball genres. The typically eccentric characters and borderline ridiculous situations are pushed a little bit further then usual. However, the movie seems to actually be a screwball comedy, albeit with a bit higher octane fuel then normal. It fails to really push the genre over the edge.
The characters are amusing, but two-dimensional. Barnes is intelligent, but naive. Archer is the typical movie reporter - always sarcastic, always unwilling to make real inter-personal contact. Mussburger is the vile company man whose eye never leaves the bottom line. They don't make for very interesting characters, but as caricatures, which is what a comic farce needs at times, they do their jobs adequately.
Stylistically, the film is a typical Coen Brothers postmodern mish-mash of a particular film era, this time the forties. The snappy dialogue, naive protagonist, and cynical, worldly leading lady are obvious throwbacks. The Coens have definitely done their research and make perfect use of the various era-specific devices, including Citizen Kane-esque over-the-top visuals. This filmic playfulness adds a lot to the comedy, at least for someone who is aware of film conventions in the black-and-white days.
That leads to one of the films biggest accomplishments- while Proxy is replete with elements that only a certified film buff could immediately grasp, it is very accessible to modern audiences who aren't aware of what is going on between the lines. The dialogue, story, characters, and situations are funny in themselves, but the references to film history make the text richer for those with some knowledge of cinematic history (at least those who aren't repelled by the mile-wide postmodern streak).
Overall, this is a very funny movie, but it can't match the bizarre humor found in other Coen films such as Raising Arizona, or The Big Lebowski. By sticking too close to the material to which they make homage, they may have fallen short. Making a screwball comedy is not the same as making a satire of screwball comedies. The film maker siblings didn't drop the hula hoop completely, they just couldn't keep the pace up to their usual level.
Technorati Tags: movie review, coen brothers, hudsucker proxy, tim robbins, paul newman, jennifer jason leigh, screwball, movies, movie, film, cinema, review
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