The Hudsucker Proxy
1994
****
Director: Joel Coen
Cast: Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Newman, Charles Durning, John Mahoney, Jim True-Frost, Bruce Campbell, Bill Cobbs, Harry Bugin, Anna Nicole Smith
Following the president's suicide, the board of Hudsucker Industries conspire to install a naïve business graduate as CEO in order to devalue the stock and take over the company. However, the new CEO may have a sensational idea. This visually lavish screwball comedy by the Coen brothers was a critical and commercial flop upon its release. I have always found it highly original and hilarious, though also exhausting and excessively goofy. Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Paul Newman all deliver likeable performances. Joel and Ethan Coen co-wrote the script with Sam Raimi.
