The Hudsucker Proxy
1h 50m
Directed by Joel Coen • 1994 • United States
Starring Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Newman
The Coen brothers’ sparky satire of corporate greed is an irresistibly inventive take on the Preston Sturges/Frank Capra–style screwball comedy constructed with clockwork precision. When the founder of Hudsucker Industries leaps to his death from the forty-fourth-floor boardroom window, the board of directors panics. But there is a plan: install a complete imbecile as president of the company and devalue the stock so the board can acquire a controlling interest for themselves. Enter Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins). Fresh off the bus from Muncie, Indiana, Norville is ready to start at the bottom and work his way up to the top of the corporate world . . . he just never imagined it would happen so quickly.