The Hudsucker Proxy
For my spring break, I rented and watched several movies, most by the Coen Brothers. In fact, I think that The Hudsucker Proxy was the best one I watched. The Hudsucker Proxy is visually stunning and hysterically funny. Most of the gags are sight gags, but they are very original ideas. This movie is one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time. Not only are the visuals funny, but the dialogue is funny as well. I have to ask myself: "Do good visuals and comedy make up for underdeveloped characters and a pretty weak plot?" The answer is, simply, yes.
The Hudsucker Proxy does what every movie wants to do: it gets you to watch it over and over again, catching new gimmicks and gags that the writers/director has thrown in. One of my favorite scenes in the entire movie involves Sidney J. Mussburger (Paul Newman), the corporate vice-persident, and Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins). Barnes walks into Mussburger's office with a BLUE LETTER, supposedly a highly confidential letter which usually is bad news. However, Mussburger never receives the letter because Barnes wants to show him his idea. He holds the piece of paper up and says, "You know... for kids!" Barnes looks at it, and turns it upside-down. The entire scene is very funny and the flashbacks are done very well and timed perfectly.
The plot of The Hudsucker Proxy is mainly just a background for the visual sights. But as for the plot, it concerns Waring Hudsucker (Charles Durning), the president and founder of Hudsucker Industries, who plummets to his death after jumping out of a window. Why did he do this? Who knows. But it is a very funny scene, though pretty dark. And the special effects are very good (although, it looks like he fell more than 45 floors). Because of this tragic accident, the vice president, Mussburger, wants to buy the company when it goes on the market at the beginning of the new year. The only problem is that he, and the other board members, don't have enough money to buy it.
So, they come up with a plan. They decide to find someone who will be their "proxy", or guinea pig. This happens to be Barnes, a new employee in the mail room who is sent up with a blue letter. The vice president makes the young man the president to let the stock plummet. This brings some investigation from a young female reporter, Amy Archer (Jennifer Jason Leigh, who does a remarkable job with her part). She is able to trick the gullible Barnes into hiring her as his personal secretary. This way, she can get an exclusive story. While the stock plummets, Barnes decides to put his idea to good use. He makes the company invest a lot of money into his idea. The item is put on the market, known as the 'Hula Hoop.' (Don't worry, I didn't ruin anything by telling you because it shows you right on the box.) The events that follow are pretty funny and original.
I could tell you the entire plot and I still wouldn't have ruined the movie for you. The whole pleasure of watching this movie is to watch the Coen Brothers mix in their dark humor and visual sight gags. Almost all of the gags are hysterical, but some do flop. As for the dialogue, it is witty and very fast paced at moments, especially when Archer is talking. Some of the visual gags are so subtle that you may miss them, one being while Hudsucker is falling to his death, he takes a moment to wipe some sweat off of his glasses. It's not very noticeable, but if you know to look for it, it's very funny.
One of the pleasures of this movie is the cast. The characters aren't very deep and they don't have much emotion, but the cast gives them a little depth using there wonderful talent. Tim Robbins is terrific as the trusting and loyal "idea man." The whole movie revolves around him. Jennifer Jason Leigh is the surprise of the movie, talking quickly in one scene, and then slowly in another. She adds a lot of charm and humor to the film. She is my favorite character in the movie. Paul Newman is terrific and very funny as Mussburger. He sometimes mixes lines together, such as when he is talking on the phone and talking to Barnes. Charles Durning is perfect in his small role. He has very funny facial expressions, and one always makes me smile, though I don't know why. It's almost a look of confusion or contemplation just before he steps up onto the table. Also, I would like to add one more character that probably gets overlooked. And that is Buzz played by Jim True. His character gives the most verbal gags and puns. My personal favorite: "When is a sidewalk fully dressed? When it's Waring Hudsucker!"
The Hudsucker Proxy is rated PG. There isn't anything offensive in the movie, but I doubt kids will like it. I saw it in the theaters when it first came out and I thought it was an okay movie. But now I have developed a taste for these kinds of movies, and I love it. The visuals are stunning and I haven't seen anything so pleasing to the eye since... well, I don't even remember. My advice: for a fantastic weekend of fun entertainment, rent The Hudsucker Proxy and Fargo, another brilliant Coens movie. These two together show what kind of talent the brothers really have.