O Grande Salto

The best comedy by the Coens. Second viewing, I raise to five stars and never less. PS: The suicide and the debate afterwards is impeccable – Monty Python lovers know what I like about it. (11/09/2009)

The Coens and their comedy is a chapter in itself. We can love them, we can hate them, but they always come with something new, something fresh and crazier, something that can surprise both camps of fans again. The Hudsucker Proxy is probably their most popular comedy and I had a really good time with it, even though it's not the kind of film that makes you laugh out loud from beginning to end. A nice relaxed atmosphere runs through the whole story, which is built on its head and the absurdity doesn't drip out of it, but flows directly, and with the wacky character of Tim Robbins and the way the Coens decided to wrap up the plot (no spoilers!), it was definitely a hit this time. All this is crowned by great actors, led by the aforementioned Robbins, who is irresistible as the unsuspecting fool, and Paul Newman, who doesn’t know how to act bad. I was expecting some crazy bollocks, but what I got was crazy and smart entertainment. 75% (08/02/2013)

Joel and Ethan Coen were enlightened by the spirit of Frank Capra. And, with all due respect, they made fun of it. We live in too cynical an age for a film shot and written “in the mould of Capra” to succeed without some kind of knowing winks on the part of the filmmakers. The Coens wink a lot. They wink constantly, so The Hudsucker Proxy is never sufficiently serious that it could be brightened up with Capra-style humanism, thanks to which you would believe that any John Smith could win fair and square over corrupt criminals. Tim Robbins doesn’t play a likable simple man, but rather an imbecile who has no idea what’s going on around him through most of the film. It’s hard to go along with him, keep your fingers crossed for him and not be indifferent to whether or not he becomes “a piece of abstract art on Madison Avenue”. But why not? After all, idiots are as much a part of the Coen brothers’ films as bizarre names, dream sequences and cameos by Steve Buscemi. Furthermore, the film works flawlessly as a comedy. The structure that really matters – to the camera and the screenwriters (the brothers + Sam Raimi) – is the Warren Industries building (44 floors + a mezzanine). A conspicuous symbol of economic prosperity. A monster that shows staggering profits, though we are not told where those profits come from. Only the “invention” of the hula hoop, whose real origins are not known, gives the business a more tangible form. Rapid-fire one-liners are delivered by Jennifer Jason Leigh in the supporting role of a go-getting journalist modelled on Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday. 85% (15/01/2011)