Artist The Hudsucker Proxy

Upon its 1994 release, Joel and Ethan Coen’s The Hudsucker Proxy was seen as a disappointment: a bloated, shrill experimental “comedy” with some great dialogue trampled by arch style and one-note performances. But like most Coen brothers movies, The Hudsucker Proxy looks more impressive as time passes. The pastiche of ’30s screwball comedy and progressive social drama—starring Tim Robbins as an unwitting corporate stooge and Jennifer Jason Leigh as the reporter who exposes him—has its own offbeat rhythm. It’s also fundamentally sweet, and an extended mid-film sequence about the invention of the Hula Hoop remains one of the funniest scenes ever committed to celluloid.

Updated 10/06/2009