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The Circle of life Feb 06, 2010
When Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins) pulls a small creased and stained scrap of paper from his shoe to show his new company's boss (Paul Newman) his great idea, he points eagerly to the circle penned on the square, and when Newman just blinks disgustedly at him, Barnes says "you know, for kids". This of course is after a stunning barrage of events that started the movie:
--Hudsucker Industries has just had its best year ever with all signs looking up, but company founder Hudsucker responds by taking a leap from the 44th floor ("45th, if you count the mezzanine") boardroom window.
--Norville Barnes, a "idea man" fresh (and fresh-faced) from Muncie, Indiana and its business school, has just arrived in New York City seeking to make his way to the top in the world of ideas--which starts at the bottom of the mail room, where a grizzled 40-year veteran of the mail room has the same response to Barnes's circle.
--Sid Mussburger (Newman), Hudsucker's righthand man, has realized that without Hudsucker and the 87% of stock he owned (which will now be sold on the open market), he and the board will lose control of their cushy moneymaker, so they have determined to hire a loser, a patsy, a schmoe, to quickly depress the stock values so they can afford to buy up the stock and retain control, so they can then fire their patsy and right the ship.
In walks Barnes, who promptly sets fire to Mussburger's office and causes a huge contract to be destroyed (a big deal in the days of manual typewriters and "mimeograph" machines. The Hudsucker has found its Proxy. Craziness ensues.
As the Coen Brothers continue their cinematic examination of identity, they also continue their tour through classic Hollywood genres
Blood Simple was a great noir debut about misunderstanding identity.
Raising Arizona was a screwball comedy about stealing an identity.
Miller's Crossing was a deep gangster movie about discovering identity ("Nobody knows anybody. Not that well")
Barton Fink was a Hollywood insiders movie about understanding your own identity.
Hudsucker is a fast-talking dialogue driven 1930s comedy (that would have starred Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, and Katherine Hepburn back in the day--see The Philadelphia Story) about keeping your identity in the face of all odds against. As with the other Coens, this movie never caricatures the genre it adopts, but pays homage to and cleverly recreates extends it. Set in 1958, despite its 1930s roots, it is lavishly set in a massive Art-Deco building, all angle, lines, and modern function-formed motion. The clothes are Organbization Man (and manishly Feminine, which becomes a point of discussion). The backdrops, over the unsleeping city are stylized, not realistic. The dialogue is so fast and staccato it almost needs subtitles for us today, now so alien to the culture.
And the circle of life-ahh, yes, I'm coming to that (it wasn't just meant as a catchy title to draw your eye to this review). Barnes's circle is--the hula hoop. It will make Hudsucker millions, and upset Mussburger's plans. But the movie isn't about that. Its about circles--the front of the Hudsucker building is adorned by a huge circular clock face that is present, from front or back , in almost every shot. Significantly, it is visible from behind in Mussburger's office, but not from Barnes's, even though it is on the same floor on the same side of the building as the clock. Clocks, with their circular faces, and time, with its circular motion, is very important throughout the movie. Things happen when the big hand of the clock reaches twelve--New Years, starting time, closing time, meetings.
The circle as symbol moves even closer to the center of the movie when Barnes, wooing his love interest (Jennifer Jason Leigh in the Katherine Hepburn role), refers to her as a gazelle in a past role on the circle of life--yes, he uses the term, and yes, it is as lame as it sounds. For Robbins, in the role as Barnes, while he has the simplicity and wisdom to invent the hula hoop and understand its appeal, is every bit the loser, patsy, and schmoe (and yes, they use those terms--remember the genre, the time, and the setting) that the Hudsucker brass were lookiing for. But as the loser, he is lovable and redeemable; when he fails to keep that simple and lovable identity, and turns into a callow young disciple of Mussburger (hearing Robbins repeating some of Newman's lines word for word is hysterical and displays the great acting talents of both), he loses hims self in and on the circle.
Even the resolution at the climax of the movie is driven by the clock--that beautiful art-deco clock face on the front of the building has behind it a whirring assemblage of gears and wheels (more circles!) constantly turning and constantly in need of maintenance. To say more would be to give away too much of the movie. Enjoy.
 Quintessential New Year's Eve film Dec 21, 2009
Just as "It's a Wonderful Life" is THE quintessential film for many people on Christmas Eve, so is "The Hudsucker Proxy" the quintessential film for me for New Year's. It's a Coen brothers film, so you know a few things up front: it will be creatively written and directed, it will have some delightfully quirky characters, and more than likely the film will be head and shoulders above the average dreck oozing out of Hollywood these days. What you may not expect is such a funny and oddly touching story that will carry you into the new year with a fresh perspective.
Do yourself a favor: this New Year's Eve find some time before the big party to watch this film with a few friends or someone special. You won't regret it.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 sort of the doctrine of the immaculate corporation in comedy form? Dec 03, 2009
In the 1950's American corporations could do now wrong.
Two of the inventions claimed by Norville Barnes are actually WHAM-O®
products made by a novelty toy company in the late 50's early 60's
( HULA HOOP® and FRISBEE®).
The idea here of a fall guy or scape goat is not new historically,
but here the result turns out differently than anybody
had planned. The suicide of the owner and president of
Hudsucker starts the movie. We even at the end
haven't a real clue what leads the successful man
to take his life ( except for the Blue Letter)?
I liked the movie but in these times when America
is closing up manufacturing here and moving them to cheap labor countries,
I think that seeing that the people who are doing this care for nothing
but how much they are getting out of it
may not be good for ordinary people to see
even in comedy? Tim Robbin's makes a very good fall guy...
Brightly funny and darkly satirical Nov 25, 2009
This was the third of a hat-trick of great Coen Brothers films and I think it is the best one. It is my favourite. The film is brightly funny but darkly satirical. It is uplifting as well. It absorbs the history of American cinema into a superb modern context, making the best of everything. It has many great set-pieces, wonderful sets and colour photography, great casting and acting. It is surely Paul Newman's best outing. Ravishing and wonderful. This is one of the best films ever made.
0 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 Pathetic Oct 21, 2009
Badly written -- the screenwriter evidently considers loud, inane wisecracking to be biting satire (it's not).
Badly directed -- the director seems to have thought large, empty sets would nicely set off against the long, empty script (it doesn't) and to have persuaded every single actor that loud and over-broad, with lots of distracting physical schtick thrown in for good measure, was just what his/her role required (it wasn't).
Badly acted -- the actors without exception seem to have had the mistaken impression that they were in a Broadway theater with the whole audience packed into the last rows and their "craft" required shouting every line and over emphasizing every movement and posture (they weren't and it didn't).
But, except for the inane screenwriting, inept direction, and inapt acting,...
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