7. The Hudsucker Proxy

When I think about the term “overlooked,” the Coen brothers immediately come to my mind. Responsible for a relatively short, but extremely creative filmography, the Coens never saw one of their movies grossing more than 50 million dollars at the USA box office, which is a shame. Considering the impressive quality of their work, they deserved to be box office kings -- even if that would annihilate their “cult” status.

For a good example of this “injustice,” look at The Hudsucker Proxy: telling a fantastic and very original story, the Coens combine completely different genres, mixing fable elements with comedy and drama at the same time they spoof and pay homage to Cinema itself. Unfortunately, it’s possible that the great inventiveness of the movie actually managed to “frighten” moviegoers, who apparently didn’t seem to understand what the movie was actually trying to do: entertain us in an intelligent and constantly surprising way.

Portraying the goofy, but lovable Norville Barnes with his usual brilliance, Tim Robbins is at his best when sharing the screen with Jennifer Jason Leigh, who is doing a perfect impression of the sharp reporter played by Jean Arthur in Mr.Deeds Goes to Town. And how could the Academy miss the opportunity of nominating Paul Newman in one of his best performances of the 90s? (It would be nice to see this great pro being nominated in two categories -- he was already competing as Lead Actor for Nobody’s Fool).

Filled with amazing shots (the “meeting” sequence with Charles Durning comes to mind, as does the moment when a boy finds out the purpose of the Hula-hoop), The Hudsucker Proxy is an incredible, funny movie that -- like all the Coens’ filmography -- deserves to become mainstream. (Pablo Villaca)