Hudson Hawk [DVD]

Great cast and good, though fanciful dialogue. We’re going to miss Bruce Willis.

This is a very silly movie but its interesting - funny - has some silly stunts but a great movie to kill an evening.

Forget Southland Tales, this movie is a real doozy. If theres a term that defines beyond over-the-top, it would be Hudson Hawk. Theres no way to explain just how bat-scat crazy this movie really is, other than saying its outrageous balderdash. I didnt know what to expect from this, other than the fact that it got panned by critics. I can understand why: its not that it was sold to be one thing but its really something else, this movie was sold to be one thing but it turned out to be too much of everything. That thought can put anyone in a weird position. The bizarreness began when the movie started in a book form, telling about Leonard da Vinci making a conversion device that can turn lead into gold. Jump to the present day (circa 1990), it has the titular character (Willis) bailing out of prison and being escorted by his pal Tommy (Danny Aiello), only to be later greeted by a mob and forced him to steal a statue from a museum. After the heist (while he and Tommy sing, no less), the movie started becoming hazy once an English butler killed a mob boss and broke the statue to find a princess artifact. Later, the same statue was returned to the museum without Hawks knowledge, so when he got there to check it out, there was a sudden sabotage by rich moguls, then he got chased by the mob in an ambulance before hes confronted by another rich mogul and his thugs named after brand-name chocolate bars. Hawk got sent to Rome to work for one faction, then on another faction, only to support a completely different faction with Andie MacDowells character, and from what I can gather, there was an evil plan to use Vincis conversion device and things blow up. In many ways, the plot of the unwilling protagonist getting involved in multiple groups without any real understanding reminds me of the Coens bowling strike, The Big Lebowski. While this is an earlier film compared to the film about a shomer shabbos guy beating up a guys car, The Big Lebowski did keep the clustered plot and its humor subdued. This movie doesnt know how to be subtle, it just goes on the loony path without taking a break. Its completely random at how scenes were set up so Hudson Hawk can be where he has to go and make witty retorts along the way. Nothing about this movie is realistic, almost every slapstick moment includes a Looney Tunes sound effect and multiple cartoon-based gags. Its rather unorthodox that such a zany movie can be so violent and vulgar; characters were cursing and getting sliced, the mood of this movie was all over the place. Does this movie had any idea what to do with a lot of elements it had? It tried to do so much and so fast that the insanity got a bit unnerving. For being such an outrageous movie, Hudson Hawk does maintain this kind of eccentricity for the entire runtime. At least it has the right cast to go with the zaniness, and the zaniness is consistent; just about the entire cast are simply out of their mind, even the one-dimensional love-interest like MacDowell (eventually) becomes as loony as the rest. Its a total mess, but it is a unique mess. There has never been another action-adventure, romantic-comedy, historical, musical, gangster, surreal, product placement movie quite like this. Its an achievement to say the least.

Sit down with popcorn and enjoy

Great cheap no frills blu ray of an absurdist classic

One of my favorite movies of all time and also eminently quotable. Great appearances by Richard E. Grant and Sandra Bernhard who bring psychotic to a whole new level. Also nice early appearances of David Caruso and Lorraine Toussaint. This movie was hamstrung by poor marketing, but it would have been hard to market. It is a cross between a spoof, a farce, and avant garde surrealism, and if viewed through that lens (not as, say, a straight up action or action-comedy), it should be well respected.

Very disappointed that adult language is censored and dubbed over and is not advertised as such. This movie is a classic and the bantering dialog makes the script. Five stars given for the movie but no stars given for the revised children’s version...

I think the biggest problem with this movie is that people think theyre supposed to take it seriously. Ummmm, no. Its satirical comedy, not straight comedy. All the indignant people who pan this movie by saying its stupid are taking it way too seriously. Of course its stupid, its satire. (warning, some minor spoilers, but they dont matter much) I mean, the love interest is a nun, he mails himself to the Vatican, he spends the whole movie trying to get a cup of capuccino and his parole officer tries to get him to commit a crime. Think The Da Vinci Code meets Laurel and Hardy.

Family loved it

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