B+. Very fun film.

A, best Coen Brothers movie over Raising Arizona.

Ditto for me. It's still my favourite Coen Bros. movie. A magical movie. Shame it didn't catch on more with mainstream audiences. It seems Tim Robbins has a knack for starring in films with titles that fail to excite audiences (only to be discovered and loved later on) what with this, The Shawshank Redemption and Howard The Duck.

Love this movie. It captures the essence of old Hollywood (or what I perceive it to be) and makes it extremely stylish and scathingly fun. It's really quite solid and I love revisiting it.

B+/A-

I love it too. Second only to Lebowski in the Coen canon, as far as I'm concerned.

I adore this film. Its quirky and strange and thats just 1/4 of the charm. The Coens are Gods!!

I thought it was very good but it felt a little too streamlined, like it could have used some more fleshing out. But one of the handful of best Coen brothers films? Yep I agree. I'd rank their four best as (in no order), Hudsucker, Raising A., Oh Brother, Fargo.

I miss good Coen brothers films, it's been a while.

If it's not the Coen Bros. best film, than it's absolutely their most under-rated. The fight in the clock tower kills me every time.

It's a perfect companion piece to Barton Fink, it's no coincidence this was released right after it in the Coens' library. They have the same intentions of satiring the Hollywood model, except while Fink was told through the point of view of the writer, in Hudsucker they're operating in the movie itself. Contrasts can be drawn between the film, such as the fact that BF is shot coldly and claustrophobically, while Hudsucker is bright and colourful and warm. The Buscemi character in BF resembles the elevator boy in this film, similar comparison can be drawn between the detectives in the first film and the newspaper workers here, both play to conventions of the time period. Other similarities are there too I'm sure, I'd like to watch BF again to compare them. But mostly, it's their intentions criticizing Hollywood that tie together.

Observe that the company and its employees are all structured Hollywood-esque figures, everything they do seems to be orchastrated to fit inside the Hollywood model of the 50s style film this is set in. Neville's purpose is to be the underdog who rises to the top, Leigh is the love interest who ends up standing by him, Newman is the villain... these people don't seem to operate or exist outside these molds, and neither does the narrator. The narrator who knows everything seems more funny than anything on first sight, but in reality he is the key to the Coens' satire... He knows everything about these people because he is the narrator and this is a movie, and these characters' arcs will play to that formula, because that is what they are. The clock is another brilliant addition, it represents the ticking time and overall designed nature of the movie... thus when it stops, so does the whole universe.

The ending is perfect. After Neville naturally has a lucky angellic happenstance save him in order for the film to have the happy ending, and for him to get the girl and be succesful in his job, the narrator leaves us with the line "There's also a story about a man who jumped off the 45th floor... but that's a story for another time". This wraps up perfectly the Coens' intentions of satirizing the Hollywood plot model, that on the floor above, they have an identical formula film lined up for you to eat up.

Of course, like Fink, added to all this is the Coens' beautiful direction in cinematography and production design, and perfectly placed performances from Robbins, Newman, and especially Jennifer Jason Leigh. The movie remains entertaining and charming the whole way through, and many of the one liners and comic moments are gold.

Another total winner from the Coens. I still think Barton Fink and No Country are their "masterpieces" if you will (I need to rewatch Fargo though), and if there's any reservations I have, it's that it does go through a lot of what BF already did and without the whole Coens' in writers block/8 1/2 addition, and in this case just on a personal level I prefer movies and stories that go to more internal and "dark" places like Fink, than the lighter side of the coin, Proxy. But being slightly inferior to that film is no shame... I think BF is one of the best films ever made.

In any case, you can't go wrong with this one.

5/5

Not my favourite Coens, but it's still rather hilarious and witty. For some reason Jennifer Jason Leigh got a lot of hate for this, but I thought she was probably the best part.

“We need to buy 50 percent of the stock”
“51!”
“Not counting the mezzanine.”


That line made me LOL hard. This is great so far.

A hilarious and absolutely savage satire of the business world that is presented in a surrealistic wholesome package. I can understand why this tonal clash led to critics and audiences giving it a meh at the time, but here in the year 2021 it worked so damn well, for me (and others in this thread) at least. Paul Newman gives a surprisingly iconic comedic performance, possibly my favorite from him (though admittedly I have only seen a handful of his 'best' films.) Also definitely ranks in the upper-tier of Coen's history. Lebowski still remains supreme, but this very well might be #2, competing with Miller's Crossing and their more recent hits like No Country, True Grit, Llewyn Davis and Hail Caesar.

A

Barton Fink is now the only Coen directorial effort I have left (until Macbeth launches in December.)