Monday, January 18, 2010

Movie of the Week - The Hudsucker Proxy

This week’s movie is The Hudsucker Proxy (1994).

The Hudsucker Proxy is about a naïve recent business graduate who comes to New York City looking for a job. At first he has trouble finding one, but eventually he does one in the mailroom of Hudsucker Industries only to become a pawn, as the company’s board installs him as President in an effort to drive the price of the company stock down so that they can buy it all up. The film is written and directed by the Coen Brothers and features writing and second-unit directing by Sam Raimi (and you can see his style in the second-unit stuff). What makes the film great is its harkening back to films of the late 30s and early 40s – Jennifer Jason Leigh’s character is practically right out of His Girl Friday. There is excellent cinematography by Roger Deakins and great music by Cater Burwell (who often collaborate with the Coens). Plus, along with Leigh’s acting, Paul Newman gives a fantastic performance. But what really stands out is the Coens’ writing. Their dialog is fast-paced, poignant and funny – basically perfect for the film. The combination of all its attributes sum up to one of the top movies of the 90s; check out the (dated) trailer.

The Hudsucker Proxy [DVD]

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