‎The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) directed by Joel Coen • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

The Hudsucker Proxy

1994 Directed by Joel Coen

They took him for a fall guy... but he threw them for a hoop.

A naive business graduate is installed as president of a manufacturing company as part of a stock scam.

Tim Robbins Jennifer Jason Leigh Paul Newman Charles Durning John Mahoney Jim True-Frost Bill Cobbs Bruce Campbell Harry Bugin Joe Grifasi Steve Buscemi Anna Nicole Smith Joanne Pankow Thom Noble Stan Adams John Seitz Roy Brocksmith I.M. Hobson Jon Polito John Goodman Colin Fickes Todd Alcott Richard Schiff Roderick Peeples

111 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by matt lynch ★★★★½

Time is a flat circle.
Review by Arielrocks5 ★★★★★ 22

"The Hudsucker Proxy" is something I can only describe as.......I, honestly don't know. I'm joking. I've been having the hardest time trying to come up with what to say about this movie.

There's just something about it that keeps me from figuring out the perfect words to properly describe it. It's a dark screwball comedy with plenty of the typical things you'd expect from a Coen brother's production (Along with co writer Sam Raimi) but, I don't know what it was, I just, couldn't get enough of it.

There's this weird charm to it that lasts throughout a the entire run time that I never wanted it to end and even if I knew where most of the story beats…
Review by Steve G ★★★★ 10

Easy As ABC

"I need unguent" - Steve G Does The Coens

I'd like a tickbox when I do Letterboxd reviews marked 'This review isn't really about this film at all and is of no use to you at all if you were looking for an opinion on this film'. I would probably end up ticking that a lot.

I would definitely have been in with a great chance of ticking that box with The Hudsucker Proxy - and I think I would have been considering doing it after just a couple of minutes of Jennifer Jason Leigh's performance. I would like to know at what point she is going to be recognised as the outstanding actor that she is…
Review by Disgustipated ★★★★★

Between this and The Big Short, it inspired this list Ive put together:

I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore list
Review by Emily Housel ★★★★

Better than Meet John Doe. The only way to do old hollywood. This was so much fun.
"You know... for kids!"
Review by ScreeningNotes ★★★½

"You know, for kids!"

Misunderstood period comedy from the Coen brothers which was panned on its release. While it's certainly not up to the standard set by the duo's other works, it's also much better than critics would have you believe. Great unity of visual composition (the shots of the Hudsucker board room and the mail room as well as the shot straight down the front of the building are all structurally identical), and Tim Robbins and Jennifer Jason Leigh are a delight.

Recent reviews

Review by Steve Rogers ★★★★★

I have always loved this movie. It's where I realized how good an actor Tim Robbins is. He's zany good, Paul Newman is perfect and the story and music are wonderful. I LOVE THIS MOVIE and the WAY IT MAKES ME FEEL.
Review by Mark Wanner ★★★★½

COEN TO THE MOVIES FILM #2 (Unfortunately, I missed film #1 - No Country For Old Men)

OK, so I've always liked The Hudsucker Proxy, but now I LOVE it! Moreso than any other Coen film, this benefits from being experienced on the big screen. The picturesque Deakins cinematography, the expressionist art direction, the Howard Hawks dialogue (Jennifer Jason Leigh sets the screen on fire), and the classical Carter Burwell score (possibly his best dork with the Coens) are all overpowering when witnessed in the cozy confines of an Alamo Drafthouse. This is an absolutely stunning production.

I don't know how the Coens tricked mega producer Joel Silver into giving them $25 million to make this throwback to the days of Frank Capra, but the world is a better place for it.
Review by JPT42 ★★★★½

Another classic Coen Brothers movie, The Hudsucker Proxy is a curious mixture of screwball comedy pastiche and industrial satire with occasional leftfield flights of fantasy. The brothers’ first foray into big budget movie making, the film failed to find an audience when originally released but has happily improved in retrospect. After some gentle snowfall and wry Bill Cobbs narration that places us at the back end of 1958, the audience is sucked along with lovable doofus Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins) into the vast orbit of the Hudsucker building, a glorious slab of monolithic architecture reminiscent of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, that towers 404 floors (405 including the mezzanine) over New York, an eccentric yet slightly sinister world that maybe be more…
Review by caleb_yells ★★★½ 1

probably the most family-friendly movie the coen brothers have done

you know....... For Kids!
Review by Dale O'Flaherty ★★★★½

A couple of observations:

-Robbins never quite catching on that Leigh isn't from Muncie despite her ignorance of the region is one of my favourite bits.

-Robbins' hair changing: from rings at the beginning to slicked back to messy towards the film end parallels his journey from the bottom to the top and back again.

-I've heard "You know, for kids" long before I've seen this film but it's even funnier in context.

-The montage of the production of the Hula Hoop is probably my favourite sequence in the movie.
Review by Klack128 ★★★★

From the outset of this movie, I couldn't help but think of Batman Returns. Something about the wintry setting, the board meeting, the feeling that whatever this movie was, it was going to be over the top -- brought that movie to mind immediately. I never shook that throughout the entire movie and, later, thought a little bit of Scrooged as well.

Those things didn't hurt the movie for me, though I have to say this, of all of the Coen movies I've seen so far, was the most unique. I'm not sure if it was the setting, or the cast, but this just felt different from their other films. I loved Tim Robbins's eager, lovable, dopey character, and thought…
Review by JM

Me encanta haber descubierto aquí a una versión embrionaria de JJ Jameson.

No esperaba mucho al ser una de las menos conocidas de los Coen, pero oye, está bastante bien. No puedo esperar el remake, basado en la invención del spinner.
Review by Melissa ★★½

It wasn't terrible, I just didn't care unless Bruce Campbell was on the screen.
Review by Nathan Nicolau ★★★½

Largely misunderstood. Definitely a gem in the Coen filmography.