Variety
Nearly everything in the Coen brothers' latest and biggest film seems like a wizardly but artificial synthesis, leaving a hole in the middle where some emotion and humanity should be.
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The Hudsucker Proxy
Tim Robbins stars as a naive business graduate installed as president of a manufacturing company as part of a stock scam. Directed by the Coen brothers.
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 (Robbins) as company president. However, when Barnes' latest invention succeeds, increasing the company's value, his plot begins to backfire. Worse yet, undercover reporter Amy Archer (Jennifer Jason Leigh) has the scoop on Mussburger's shady dealings.
1994Rating: PG, Violence111 minsUK, Germany, USA
ComedyFantasy
- Director:
- Joel CoenEthan Coen ('The Big Lebowski', 'Fargo', 'True Grit')
- Writer:
- Ethan CoenJoel CoenSam Raimi
- Cast:
- Tim RobbinsJennifer Jason LeighPaul NewmanCharles DurningJohn MahoneyJim True-FrostBill CobbsBruce Campbell
The Hudsucker Proxy / Reviews
Time Out
A minor work, but confirmation of the Coens' position among America's most ambitious, able and exciting film-makers.
Full reviewThe New York Times
Movies are, after all, about fakery; so is the story of Norville's rise and fall and redemption.
Full review
Roger Ebert
Not even the slightest attempt is made to suggest that the film takes its own story seriously. Everything is style. The performances seem deliberately angled as satire.
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Los Angeles Times
"Proxy's" highly polished surface leaves barely any space for an audience's emotional connection.
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Empire Magazine
While not to everyone's tastes, this is without doubt one of the most exhilarating films of 1994.
Full review
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