The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

Brief: After Waring Hudsucker (Charles Durning) takes a flying leap from the 44th floor of Hudsucker Industries, Sidney J. Mussburger (Paul Newman) plots to drive down the cost of the soon-to-be public shares, so the board can gobble them up and continue to be millionaires. They install an educated yet naive mail room clerk, Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins), as their proxy president. Things turn sour when Barnes invents the hoola-hoop, putting the company back on top. Meanwhile, Amy Archer (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a journalist who goes undercover as Barnes' assistant to get the real story.

More Coens. And I do love my Coens. The film's stylish and hilarious, but . . . well, I'll get back to that.

Newman is fantastic as a devilish CEO. Robbins, as you well know, is crazy talented, and this performance is inspired. My only real concern is the annoying accent/way of talking Leigh adopts. What is that about? What is it supposed to signify? I didn't get it.

Okay, seriously, I can't seem to think of much to say about this movie. The box said "two thumbs up!", all triumphant, but I don't agree with that. The movie is like a wool sweater. It's warm and comfortable and soft, but it also a little bit itchy. If you don't condition yourself to ignore the itchiness, it will drive you crazy. Yup, that's actually how I feel about the movie.

And that's the thing with the Coens. It's almost as though you have to know how to watch them. If you don't realize how tongue in cheek everything is, you are liable to find it inconsistent and even trite. They aren't, at all, but it could seem that way.