1994 comedic dramaRating: 16/20
Plot: An imbecile from Muncie moves to the big city following graduation from business school. He's got dreams of making it big but can only find a job in the mailroom of Hudsucker Industries on the same exact day the president of the company takes a dive from the 44th story window during a board meeting and winds up as jelly on the street below. The board, led by mean guy Sidney Mussburger, strategize to find a way to make the company's stock dip so that they can buy up the bulk that just flew out the window. Their plan involves making that Hoosier imbecile president of the company and creating panic with investors.
Delightful! This is considered second tier Coen bros. stuff, but second tier Coen is so much better than a lot of most filmmakers' first tiers. Here they pay homage to those fast-talking sophisticated 1930's comedies (see: Sturges) and they and their actors do a very good job. The script is quickly paced and witty, and the movie looks and sounds fantastic with shots that simultaneously look innovative and old and big music straight outta 1935. This isn't often laugh-out-loud funny, more gee-that's-clever funny, but it is entertaining as hell. The lead actors on the poster are very good, but it's the little side parts (a lot of Coen regulars) that really bring the fun. There's also a lot of fun in the little side details--the period stuff, the visual gags, recurring jokes. The plot may get a little loopy by the end and this might annoy people who aren't familiar with what the Coens are spoofing (I didn't appreciate it much when it first came out), but it's quality entertainment that grows on you and reveals layers with repeated viewings.
Here I am remembering that I haven't seen Barton Fink in a couple years:
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