Rating: 
Summary: A Fantabulous Movie!
Review: It is one of those movies that you don't mind watching again...and again....and again....and again... An odd gem that just sticks with you, and becomes a classic on you shelf.
It has all the detail and quirks of the classic movies from an ere long gone by, yet is in the comedic beat of today. The humor is like every other coen brother movie, with the same mix of wit and physical humor that is their trademark. You almost feel embarrassed for Norville Barnes, and at the same time, can snicker at his predicaments. (Anyone else notice that when he dreams, he doesn't think women have bellybuttons?) It's odd little details like that that really are over the top.
All the details point to what it does best -- poke fun at a bygone era -- the '50's. Anything like that is worth a looksee.
The only regret for me is that there isn't any extra features about this movie. I would really like to know what the actors and the director thought of this movie in retrospect. Or at least know what went into cooking up such an experience as this.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Movie
Review: I LOVE THIS MOVIE. This is the type of movie you sit down and watch with friends. If you like movies like "Strange Brew" and "Ferris Buller's Day Off" you'll enjoy the Proxy. A little slow in the very begining and in the middle buy well worth it in the end.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Great American Classics
Review: I first saw this oft overlooked gem of the early 90's while flipping through the channels on TV during a lazy Sunday afternoon. As usual, I'd been spending only a fleeting moment on each channel, but the mailroom scene was so bizzarre that I just HAD to figure out what the movie was. And I'm so glad I did. The Hudsucker Proxy is a fairly thinly disguised remake of How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, but that doesn't mean it lacks originality. In fact, this movie is so left of center for a mainstream release that I'm surprised it didn't receive more notice. The story centers around Norville Barnes, an enthusiastic young college graduate who's ready to seek his fortune in the late 1950's. Deterred by the experience requirements that he simply doesn't meet, he takes an entry-level job in the mailroom of Hudsucker Industries. When the president of the company commits suicide, Norville is promoted to the top in the hopes that an inexperienced helmsman will scare the shareholders into selling their stock so the board can buy a controlling interest in the company. Luckily, Norville has some bright ideas. You know... for kids. This is probably as close as I'm going to see to The Great American Movie in my lifetime. This film is acceptable for the entire family, has a hilarious and engaging plot, and seems to have been made with the best possible intentions. The acting is first rate, especially from Paul Newman as Sidney J. Mussburger (as genuinely bad guy) and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Amy Archer, a fast-talking career gal who thinks she's one of the boys. The DVD features leave quite a bit to be desired, the only one worth mentioning being the choice of screen size, but don't let that fool you. This is truly one of the undiscovered gems that's a great time for everybody.
Rating:
Summary: A comic Citizen Kane! Brilliant!!
Review: Wow, this is a super-charged 16 cylinder flick in perfect tune & blasting at full throttle. Everything about it is perfect. Every last detail is a blast: the story, the performances, the set pieces (who can ever forget the little kid pondering the forlorn hula hoop on the sidewalk, picking it up & placing it on his hips ...& starting a mass movement- to the sounds of the Sabre Dance), the lines ("what your beatnik friends call karMAHH"...). The acting - from Tim Robbins in a comic performance that ranks right up there with Harold Lloyd, Paul Newman at his funniest, Jennifer Jason Leigh as a perfect amalgam of all the fast-talking career gals of 40s movies to the smallest role (especially the elevator operator, the sinister sign painter & the guy in the mail room acing those letters into their slots). The music is perfect: I never hear Katchaturian now without seeing thousands of day-glo hula hoops! Incredible sets - Metropolis & Blade Runner class. A visually stunning masterpiece, Sturges & Welles on hallucinogens, far above the Coen Brothers other works which in themselves are far & away superior to 99% of anything else that comes out of Hollywood.
Rating:
Summary: Long live the Hud!
Review: I've always been a fan of the Coen Brothers, and even though this DVD edition is very poor on features, the movie is so good it's still worthy of any collection. "The Hudsucker Proxy" is my favorite Coen movie, specially because of the inclusion of Sam Raimi as co-writer. This film was the first big-studio production for the Coen Brothers, and it has everything that makes them "one" of the biggest names in independent film-making. It deals with a very difficult genre of comedy, that which is fast-talking and very witty. In fact, there may be a few jokes that you'll only get after you see the movie a couple of times. It's so full of details and symbols that you'll have a great time trying to see them all. It's also the most ambitious art direction the Coens ever had. Too bad that such a great movie doesn't have a decent DVD edition, one with (at least) a couple of features to separate it from the rest of the pack. Oh, I almost forgot, watch out for some really cool cameo appearances like Sam Raimi, Peter Ghalaguer, Anna Nicole Smith (as Zsa Zsa Gabor) and Steve Buscemi.
Rating:
Summary: The Coen brothers do it again
Review: It is a tribute to how good the Coen brothers are at making movies that this film is considered one of their weaker works. Considering that even this movie is better than 90% of the movies out there, it is clear that the Coen brothers know what they're doing. Although technically set in 1959, this is a 1940s style movie, especially reminiscent of Capra's works. Almost everything about the work is brilliant, starting with Tim Robbins as a naive man thrust into a figurehead position at the top of a giant corporation and Paul Newman as the coldly ruthless business who put him there. The settings are fantastic, some of the scenes are especially funny (I particulary like the "blue letter" sequence), and the story is enjoyable from start to finish. This is a great movie, a reminder of the great movies of the past and an indication that great movies are still possible today.
Rating:
Summary: fumbling towards greatness
Review: "The Hudsucker Proxy" is one of the movies at the top of my "most underrated movies of all time" list. Besides being a wonderfully unique creation, it features top rate performances from its two stars, Tim Robbins and Jennifer Jason Leigh. A comedic love story at is core, "The Hudsucker Proxy" takes on a lot of big issues in its own quirky way. The meaning of identity, the harshness of the world, the nature of creativity, and the evil of deception are all dealt with. Providential aid comes from the least likely source. Leigh's interpretation of Ms. Archer is near perfect. She is humorous, unassured, witty, and fumbling all at the same time. The same could be said of Robbins, yet everything about Norville is driven by the fumbling part of his character. Newman's Sidney is a scheming heartless antagonist. He is so evil that one can almost see the slime behind his eyes. Yet even the schemes of Sidney fall short due to incompetence. At this point I must also mention that the Master, Bruce Campbell, makes an appearance in "The Hudsucker Proxy." Maybe the movie's greatest weakness is that his role is too limited. Then again, Campbell never gets enough screen time. Whatever else one can say about The Coen brothers and Tim Robbins, this much is sure--they make great films. "The Hudsucker Proxy" is one of the greatest films any of them has made. I recommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: The Alpha and the Omega
Review: The Coens' Masterwork merits a place in the upper echelon of hysteria and oblique humour. The near cameo placement of Bruce Campbell is a wonderful homage, and my only regret is the utterly overplayed role of Jennifer Jason Leigh. Her character's treatment is admirable but the vocal 240 wpm is a bit grating at times. Notice Steve Buscemi survives an appearance in a Coen Bros. film also! His hepcat/beatster bartender is in no way murdered! Go figure. Robbins is as always, delightful, and Paul Newman is in high form and cast perfectly as the embodiment of corporate greed with Hudsucker Industries. The plot of "use and discard a substitute to plummet stock value and swoop in and buy company on the ...[low cost]-gone wrong" is most definitely entertaining. And the narration breaks are fantastic, probably the best edited film of the mid-90's. A must have for any connisuer of the Coens. A great New Years flick (for obvious reasons) that sort of hearkens back to the days of William Powell and the Thin Man series. Only our hero is a paradoxical "genius"; not a decisive, witty highball swilling madman. Watch it twice for the subtleties.
Rating: 
Summary: Deja vu all over again
Review: The Hudsucker Proxy is at heart a pastiche of all those 20s and 30s screwball comedies, only for some reason it's set in the 50s. But its inspirations tower above it, so what's the point--you'll be better off watching His Girl Friday, for example, from which Hudsucker steals heavily (including Rosalind Russell's entire performance). There's also an atmosphere of baby boomerish self-fascination in all the hoopla about hula hoops. It's just not very funny or clever.
Rating:
Summary: Great Film
Review: Very enjoyable, fun movie to watch. Once again Tim Robbins is
brillant and adorable as he is in all his films. Paul Newman and
Jennifer Jason Leigh are not too shabby either. Overall just a
nice clean film with a catchy soundtrack and a classic movie charm which is becoming increasing harder to fine:)
P.S. Check out Tim doing the Muncie fight song from college--it is so cute:)
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