You Know, For Kids

The Blank Check podcast did their Coen Brothers series a while ago. But I still hadn't rewatched The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), and had the urge, so pulled it out.

It is set in New York, 1958. Tim Robbins is a recent college graduate from Muncie, Indiana. He has come to New York to find work, but everything on offer requires experience. But fate, and the city wind, blows an ad for a mailroom job at Hudsucker Industries. He is hired and introduced to the chaotic, rule-bound, cut-throat world of the Hudsucker mailroom. 

Meanwhile, in the boardroom at the top of the Hudsucker Building, the annual report shows that the company is thriving in all areas. But the chairman and founder takes this opportunity to climb up on the conference table, take a long running start, and jump through the window to his death. 

One of the directors, Paul Newman, realizes that the founders shares will be sold to the public in a months time. The board will lose control of the company - unless they can depress the stock price by enough so that they can buy up the shares. All they need is a patsy - a figurehead so dopey it will scare off investors.

While the board is brainstorming nincompoops, Robbins is tasked with delivering a Blue Letter - a top-priority communication between board members to be delivered directly into Mr. Newman's hand. But when he gets to see Newman, instead of delivering the letter, he shows him his big idea: a sketch of a circle. "You know, for the kids." Newman has found his patsy, or proxy. 

So Robbins becomes the President of Hudsucker Industries. The press is puzzled - girl reporter Jennifer Jason Leigh thinks he's a phony, just pretending to be an idiot. She goes undercover as another Muncie girl, looking for a chance to get ahead. It's right out of Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. 

Leigh is the hero of this movie for me. She does a brilliant Katherine Hepburn mid-Atlantic accent, while talking thirteen to the dozen in snappy patter. The newsroom scenes with buddy Bruce Campbell and editor John Mahoney are very faithful to the screwball comedies this is clearly referencing. I've mentioned Mr. Deeds, but you get plenty of His Girl Friday, and even a touch of The Lady Eve. I've heard that the Coens' direction was mostly, "Faster."

So this was a lot of fun, although maybe Robbins could have been a little less clueless. I'd call it lesser Coen, which just shows how good their films are.