The Coens do Capra, with their inimitable style and wit. More specifically, this is the innocent hick in the corrupt big city thing of Mr. Smith, Mr Deeds and Meet John Doe, complete with Tim Robbins as a suitably lanky substitute for Jimmy Stewart and Gary Cooper, and a wonderful fast-talking tomboy journo turn from Jennifer Jason Leigh. Paul Newman is similarly fantastic as the evil corporate bigwig, and the tale of a patsy turning the tables on his manipulators through his own naivety and innocence is perfectly packed with inspired moments, wonderfully fantastic set design, nutty dialogue, great music and that streak of brilliant lunacy running through all of the Coens' magical oeuvre. Makes my "top ten of the decade" for sure, this beauty can only mature and grow in stature over time.

Tim Robbins is "The Hudsucker Proxy" in this 1994 Coen Brothers film, quite different from the pared down "Fargo" or the dark "Barton Fink." Though like "Fink," "The Hudsucker Proxy" has its roots in old Hollywood, it's a different old Hollywood, that of Frank Capra and Preston Sturges.

One of the first scenes is perhaps the most stunning - it takes place at a boardroom table, and that's all I'll say. To get on with the story: After the death of Waring Hudsucker (Charles Durning),a nobody from the mailroom, Norville Barnes (Robbins),is chosen by the second in command, Mussburger (Paul Newman) to become President of this huge corporation, Hudsucker. Why? Well, it was Hudsucker's wish that the company go public. Mussburger figures if he can drive down the stock price, he and the board can afford to buy 51% and retain control. Thus the lowly Barnes, who walks around with a piece of scrap paper that has a circle on it. It's his invention - "you know, for kids." A reporter (Jennifer Jason Leigh) realizes what Mussburger is up to and gets into the company as Norville's secretary. Poor Norville wonders who's trashing him in the press. Meanwhile, he goes to work on his invention.

The sets in this film are huge, to emphasize the smallness of anyone who works at Hudsucker. The company is a slight exaggeration over a normal company - only slight - your pay is docked for just about everything, including a moment of silence for the late Hudsucker, and there are some things that are sacrosanct - like a blue letter. That's so important that when one secretary sees it in Norville's hand, she screams. The most obvious thing in the company is an enormous clock - an homage, perhaps to "The Big Clock," and it figures into the story.

The acting in "The Hudsucker Proxy" is good, if a bit frantic, probably another homage to early fast-talking films like "The Front Page." The film is set in 1958, but the style is more '30s and '40s, particularly in the performance of Jannifer Jason Leigh, who does a Rosalind Russell in "His Girl Friday" and sounds at times like Katharine Hepburn.

The Coens manage to throw everything at "The Hudsucker Proxy" from old movies, including an angel, so it will keep film buffs pretty busy. There are some hilarious scenes, and the result is overall a fantastic movie with some great people, including the above-mentioned and Bruce Campbell and John Mahoney. Great fun. And make sure you get a double stitch.

I already know I will be in the vast minority on this film. SO many people I talked to about this movie were completely unimpressed by it and it has definitely been overshadowed by the Coen's other films. So, this COULD mean that I am 100% wrong about how great this film is or it could mean this film struck a chord with me and may with you as well. If you are a fan of old films, I think it's more likely you will love this film.

I've got to mention that this film at times seems like a straight drama, at other times a mild comedy and others completely surreal. I loved the strange and surreal moments--they really worked to give this movie a lot of charm. In fact, the surreal moments were woven into the story throughout the entire film. While this worked so well here, I hated the surreal aspects of Barton Fink (also from the Coens) because instead of being interwoven, the story went from an excellent and perceptive drama and then abruptly became completely surreal. I really DON'T want to go into what all the weird little scenes were, as it would spoil the film in some ways, but they are both cute and greatly enhanced the film.

A few of the many great aspects of the film would be the great set design--a combination of the early 50s and Art Deco throughout, snappy pacing, great acting (I particularly liked Tim Robbins, Paul Newman and Charles Durning) and excellent and inspiring music. The Coen brothers are simply at their best. This film is even better than Raising Arizona or Brother, Where Art Thou?