BBD Comments:
I was so excited to get Nubby back on the Stucco. As much as I have enjoyed the Selections of late, we haven’t had a real rousing story to excite our senses and fill the air with fun. I had a feeling Nubs would bring us some of that old school magic and man, was I right.
I have always loved this film. It is not the Coen Brothers best film, but it is filled with vigor and whimsy and proves irresistible in its overwhelming charm. It evokes an era that existed in films of the past, if never truly, and it does so on the strong backs of performers at the very top of their game.
Tim Robbins may never have been better than he is in this film. Norville Barnes is such a well-drawn figure. We are on his side almost instantly, and Robbins balances the heightened language and movement of his performance with a magnificently human core. He is our guide through this world, and he sets a very high bar in terms of nuance and precision. Jennifer Jason Leigh rises to that bar, and perhaps pushes it up even further. The character she presents is that of ‘The Dame.’ Equal parts Kate Hepburn and Jean Arthur, Leigh plays on our recollections of cinema history and further grounds the story in the past of film. Paul Newman in deliciously malevolent in his work, and his calm after Hudsucker’s suicide is one of the best moments in the film. He and Robbins have such fun playing off of each other it is a great pleasure to watch them work. Charles Durning may not have very much to do in the film, but his simple foot plant atop the runway-like boardroom table is worth the price of admission. Jim True, who plays Buzz the elevator operator, is so outstanding in the role it is shocking he didn’t become a household name. I was delighted to find out that he has been working steady since this film and is currently a series regular on HBO’s ‘The Wire.’ The amassed talent represented by ‘Proxy’ is among the finest ensembles the Coen brothers have put together, and with the Coen’s history, that is truly saying something.
Coolbaugh commented that ‘The Hudsucker Proxy’ reminded him of ‘Joe vs. The Volcano,’ and I love the comparison. Both films are really fables and depend on an audience’s love of a story well told.
I was happy to have the Coen brothers back for the first time since we started this thing with ‘Lebowski.’ Happier still to have Nubs back in the Selector seat. He knew what we needed and he knocked it out of the park.
Merry Christmas to all, see you in ’07.
Brandon Comments:
“You know…for kids”
‘The Hudsucker Proxy’ is one of those movies I’ve seen bits and pieces of on network TV over the past 10 or so years, yet have never seen the whole thing all the way through from beginning to end — until Movienight, that is. And I wish I could say that it’s nice to have finally seen the whole film finally, that my life is now filled with closure and resolution at watching it from beginning to end, but I cannot. I have officially seen ‘The Hudsucker Proxy’ and I can now officially say that I didn’t care for it too much.
Sure, it’s the Coen brothers. Sure, it’s a great cast, set in a great time period, with beautiful visuals and some great dialogue, but its star is Tim Robbins, who I just don’t see as a talented performer. I don’t think he can handle a starring role all by himself, even with great costars like Paul Newman and Jennifer Jason Leigh backing him up. Robbins was tolerable in ‘Jacob’s Ladder,’ mediocre in ‘Mystic River,’ and laughable in ‘Arlington Road,’ and here in ‘Hudsucker,’ Robbins just can’t pull it together. I truly believe that this film would have been phenomenal had it not been for Robbins...I can only imagine what it would have been like to have seen Nicolas Cage or William H. Macy, or even Steve Buscemi (all Coen regulars) in the starring role.
So, as far as Wildcard/Slim is concerned, this movie had all the makings of an epic, except for its star. Tim Robbins, let your precious wife, Susan Sarandon, do all the acting from here on out...just raise your kids and hug some more trees.
Netti Comments:
I'm quite sure the reviews will be glowing for our flight back to the palatable center. Not to say that I didn't enjoy the film, it is one of my favorite Coen Brother's films. In addition, for a Coen Brother's film, I never realized how good they were for involving Sam Raimi. I don't think another Coen Brother's film moves like ‘The Hudsucker Proxy’ and I would imagine a lot of that has to be from the contribution of Raimi. There's so much ‘Spider-Man’ and wry ‘Army of Darkness’ humor that it can't possibly be otherwise. Check out the newsroom scene. Remind you of ‘Spider-Man’? Not that the Coen's don't have a gift for nailing the hyper-real. I can't think of any other filmmakers who get us to regularly swallow heightened characters (not caricatures) so easily and have us ready to identify with them. As always the casting gets an A++. Beautiful Norman Rockwell faces and period radio drama voices. Check out the boardroom scene or the two cab drivers in the diner.
To get back to my opening salvo about the palatable center; before we get all gushy that “movies should be fun” or “now we're getting back in the groove” or “sophomore picks” or “genocide picks” let me drop this baseball analogy (hardly the season for it, but I'll just ignore that detail): If picking was like pitching, you couldn't just get up there and throw the heat down the middle. You gotta test the zone a little bit and throw some deception: some sliders, some curves, an occasional genocide. Now that you got the batter's eyes trained, hot stinky cheese right down the middle. You can bemoan the previous pitches as junk and unhittable, but that fast ball would have never appeared that fast without 'em.
However, regardless of the preceding detraction from what will most likely be across the board adulation for this pick, I have to say I love this movie. Lots to love. It's an enjoyable romp. Nothing like the story of the unassuming dreamer makes good in America. I'll take this version over ‘Forrest Gump’ any day of the week. Finally, I would never provide this kind of adoration for any one person on this planet, but I might be happy to be an 18th century Japanese vassal to Jennifer Jason Leigh. I would attend to her every need: mend her clothes, draw her baths, meticulously prepare her tea for the proper bitterness and temperature, and constantly be scolded and reprimanded for my shortcomings; So that in a life time of service I might, just once, catch a glimpse of her leg just above the knee and feel the sweet shame and hopelessness of my station.
SELECTOR Comments:
Watching ‘The Hudsucker Proxy’ felt like unwrapping the perfect Christmas/Hanukkah gift. The Coen brothers know how to shop for us Movienighters. It fits just right for the Stucco, and almost kept us warm on the coldest of winter nights.
I definitely can see the comparisons to ‘Joe vs. the Volcano.’ Both are overly dramatic works that feel like a large Broadway production and yet can only succeed as a film. The Coen brothers are the stars here. They manage to get everyone on board with the world they are creating. The writing, acting style, art design, musical score, and cinematography all complement each other perfectly. I’m not sure what was going on at their concept meetings, but it worked.
The sets are the first clue that this as a uniquely “theatrical” film. All of the scenes at Hudsucker Industries are framed in proscenium style making the actors look small and the sets seem huge. It really sets a world that makes you feel like a kid in a make-believe world, like Norville does. From the first voiceover on, everyone speaks in long speeches, something more common to stage plays than cinema. The acting features more stock caricatures than real people, and as our Commedia expert, Netti, pointed out Tim Robbins performance is more than borrowing from the clownish style of Commedia dell’arte. Furthermore, borrowing from classical Greek theatre, Charles Durning floats down as an angel from heaven to save the day, which is the definition of “Deus Ex Machina.” Stock characters, long speeches, deus ex machina, all are text book flaws to avoid in a well-made film, but are so refreshing and exciting to the ‘Hudsucker’ audience.
This combined with the brilliant score that swells often, made me feel like I was a boy sitting just behind the orchestra pit in my first Broadway show. Unfortunately, my first Broadway show was, “Cats,” so I was deprived of this experience. Anyway, the Coen brothers over-achieve and go the extra mile with every aspect and every punch line of this under-appreciated gem. I’ve never understood why the Coen brothers never received more hardware, and why they haven’t made another film in the new millennium. I’m sure this won’t be their last gift to the Stucco.
To be honest, I find it hard to review ‘The Hudsucker Proxy.’ Much like the hula-hoop, ‘Hudsucker’ is so complete and childishly fun, it is hard to explain. It is better just to throw it out there and hope that others jump right in and enjoy.
Cheers.
_111_Minutes_files/shapeimage_4_link_0.png)
