The Hudsucker Proxy

PG

Released Mar 11, 1994

1 hr. 51 min.

Comedy

List

63%

52 Reviews

Tomatometer

79%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Greedy executive Sidney J. Mussburger (Paul Newman) hopes to take control of the company he works for by purchasing a majority share -- but he must first devalue the stock. So he convinces the board to appoint know-nothing recent graduate Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins). But Mussburger's plot backfires when Barnes' latest invention succeeds, thereby increasing the company's value. Worse yet, undercover reporter Amy Archer (Jennifer Jason Leigh) has the scoop on Mussburger's shady dealings.

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Critics Consensus

Intriguingly strange and visually distinctive, The Hudsucker Proxy is ultimately almost -- but not quite -- as smart and absorbing as it needs to be.

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Mark R

So much fun. An all-time favourite.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/08/24

Full Review

120lightsaber

One of the most underrated films of all time. You either Love it or Hate it and this film is a nostalgic fun film full of laughs and drama. It should have been an Epic Classic but has been totally forgotten by most.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/22/24

Full Review

ed m

Great movie. Homage to Frank Capra. Great cast. Jennifer Jason Leigh's tribute to Barbara Stanwyck is marvelous.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/13/23

Full Review

Matthew B

The Coen Brothers have had a good track record of making films that receive reasonably good critical reviews and make a good return at the box office. The Hudsucker Proxy was not one of those movies. While the film has been a number of years in the making, suggesting a project close to the heart of the Coens, it bombed on its release, and critics were scathing. ime has been kinder to the film, and it can now be seen as their most underestimated work, a parable about the cut-throat world of modern capitalism wrapped in a fairy tale story that recalls the style of Frank Capra and Preston Sturges. Indeed the beginning and ending of the story carry an echo of Capra's film, Meet John Doe, another under-rated movie. Both movies begin with a man on top of a building on a snowy New Year's Eve, who is contemplating suicide. Both films leave the possibility of salvation to as late a moment as possible, with Hudsucker pushing the moment of its hero's last chance of redemption to a much later point than Joe Doe. n The Hudsucker Proxy, the suicidal man is Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins). "How'd he get so high? And why's he feeling so low?" asks Moses (Bill Cobbs). From this point onwards, the film offers a flashback to fill us in on the rise and fall of Norville Barnes. It seems unlikely at first that this absurd little man could ever become important enough to be the subject of a suicide attempt that would have serious implications for a large business. Norville's rise is caused by another man's fall – a literal one. In the middle of a board meeting about the huge profits being made by the company, its president, Waring Hudsucker (Charles Durning) take the opportunity to throw himself through the window and fall 44 floors (not counting the mezzanine) to his death. The Board appoints Norville to run the company, expecting him to fail so they can hoover up the depressed shares. Instead Norville has his own project. He has invented the hula hoop. This leads to the film's most exciting montage, and the one that won me over to loving the film. One evening I switched channels on my TV, and caught The Hudsucker Proxy at this point. I was instantly captivated by the wit and intelligence of the scene, and it is still the best part of the movie for me. After such an introduction, I can only disappoint readers who have not seen The Hudsucker Proxy. It is another witty and exciting montage showing the decline and rise in fortunes of Norville's pet project. The film rapidly cuts between different scenes showing the making and marketing of the hula hoop. Hoops are mass-produced. Execs argue over the price. Marketing employees struggle to find a name for the new product while their secretary reads War and Peace. By the time they come up with the name, she has begun Anna Karenina. Finally the hula hoop is sold on the streets, but the toy shop remains empty. Price sticker is stamped over price sticker after price sticker, showing the cost going down, as children fail to buy Norville's beloved product. The ticker tape showing Hudsucker share values offers no comfort to Norville or Amy. The shopkeeper throws away a pile of hula hoops, which he cannot even give away for free. The camera follows the path of one discarded hula hoop as it rolls across streets and finally lands at a little boy's feet. He takes it up, and is soon proficient in his use of the hoop. The other children stare at him in awe. Suddenly there is a mad charge back to the toy shop. The price starts going up again, and Norville and Amy have something to smile about when they read the share values. The hula hoop acts as the perfect symbol for the action in The Hudsucker Proxy. Circular imagery abounds – the hula hoop, a Frisbee, the coffee ring on Norville's newspaper, the clock at the top of Hudsucker Industries that is presided over by old Moses, and a halo on the head of an angel. When Norville explains his view of karma to Amy, he likens it to a circle: "A great wheel that gives us all what we deserve". Indeed the plot is circular, showing Norville's rise, fall and rise again. The film ends in the same place that it begun. The ambiguity is reflected in the Hudsucker slogan, "The future is now". Time dominates the lives of the characters. The workers at the bottom of the building must clock in every day. Characters reflect on their past behaviour, and feel that they have betrayed their old values. The future is uncertain, hung on the cusp between one year and another (the final scene takes place on New Year's Eve). Mussburger's office is placed close to the clock which dominates much of the film. Moses keeps the clock maintained, and may even use it to change the future when it suits him. Time can be frozen, but not reversed. This is a fairy tale, but one with images that would be scary if the tone of the film was not so tongue-in-cheek. Hudsucker employees work in an intimidatingly large building that looks like something out of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. The angular lines of the building recall Fascist architecture. Rapacious employers work in comfort at the top, and poor employees are exploited and overworked at the bottom. However even those at the top are not protected from falling, literally or figuratively. Three characters contemplate suicide. On New Year's Eve, the Board are wearing party hats while they listen to the news of Norville's fall. The hats make them seem like Klan members. Meanwhile crowds chase the disgraced Norville in a manner that recalls the ending of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Essentially though this is escapist fantasy. The action is set in a scale model version of old New York that looks utterly fake and romanticised. Khachaturian's music adds excitement and humour to the action. The dialogue contains rhythmical repetitions: "Sure! Sure!" "Not counting the mezzanine." Scene transitions are abrupt and amusing. My favourite is when a woman steps in front of the camera and shushes us ahead of a board meeting. The Hudsucker Proxy may be a triumph of style over substance, but the style is certainly amazing, and it does not come at the expense of a good story. Do we really care about the characters? Yes, just enough to want to see Norville and Amy triumph over their enemies. There is no deep message here, but the film is undeniably good-hearted and funny. I wrote a longer appreciation of The Hudsucker Proxy on my blog page if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2022/01/13/the-hudsucker-proxy-1994/

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/24/23

Full Review

Eric W

Beautiful, brilliant and profound. Wonderful in every way.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/07/23

Full Review

Steve D

I didn't buy Robbins's performance which dragged it all down.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

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Joel Coen

Director

Ethan Coen

Director

Tim Robbins

Norville Barnes

Jennifer Jason Leigh

Amy Archer

Paul Newman

Sidney J. Mussburger

Charles Durning

Waring Hudsucker

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The Hudsucker Proxy: Official Clip - Waring Hudsucker Quits

2:48

The Hudsucker Proxy: Official Clip - Mail Room Orientation

3:12

The Hudsucker Proxy: Official Clip - Single-Stitched Pants

2:38

The Hudsucker Proxy: Official Clip - Norville's Great Fall

2:18

The Hudsucker Proxy: Official Clip - Meeting the Shareholders

1:31

The Hudsucker Proxy: Official Clip - A Muncie Girl

2:57

The Hudsucker Proxy: Official Clip - The Hula Hoop Catches On

2:05

The Hudsucker Proxy: Official Clip - Looking for a Job

1:13

The Hudsucker Proxy: Official Clip - You Know, For Kids!

1:54

The Hudsucker Proxy: Official Clip - Getting Off the Merry-Go-Round

2:07

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Tom Ryan

The Age (Australia)

What's wrong with The Hudsucker Proxy, though, is that, for all its craftsmanship it is an utterly soulless enterprise. The Coens wisely show no inclination to parody their sources here, but neither do they seem to have anything else in mind for them.

Rated: 2/4

Dec 22, 2021

Full Review

Adam Mars-Jones

Independent (UK)

It is possible to create something emotionally true out of second-hand ingredients, in fact that's what Hollywood does, but it isn't the Coen Brothers' strong point.

Nov 16, 2017

Full Review

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: C

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

Joan Juliet Buck

Vogue

The film doesn't have anything you'd recognize as content, but it is as precisely made as a wonderful machine, funny in a mode of zany giddiness, and boasts both a German expressionist sensibility and an angel who smokes a cigar.

Feb 29, 2024

Full Review

Jeff Simon

Buffalo News

There is more intelligence and inventiveness in any random five minutes of a film by Joel and Ethan Coen than you can find in an entire year's worth of movies from some studios I can think of.

Rated: 3/5

Feb 29, 2024

Full Review

Cory Woodroof

For the Win (USA Today)

...The Hudsucker Proxy feels positively Capra-esque (well, a hair twisted on that ethos) as its the most loving homage the brothers made to the actual Golden Age films that inspired them...

Feb 22, 2024

Full Review

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Synopsis

Greedy executive Sidney J. Mussburger (Paul Newman) hopes to take control of the company he works for by purchasing a majority share -- but he must first devalue the stock. So he convinces the board to appoint know-nothing recent graduate Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins). But Mussburger's plot backfires when Barnes' latest invention succeeds, thereby increasing the company's value. Worse yet, undercover reporter Amy Archer (Jennifer Jason Leigh) has the scoop on Mussburger's shady dealings.

Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Executive Producer: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner
Screenwriter: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Sam Raimi
Distributor: Columbia TriStar Home Video, Laurenfilm S.A.
Production Co: Warner Brothers, Silver Pictures
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 11, 1994, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 24, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.1M
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo, Dolby Digital

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