Accismus

Tim Robbins stars in this early Coen brothers effort, as Norville, a hapless mailroom attendant who is installed as president of Hudsucker Industries when their president unexpectedly throws himself through a window. Norville is meant to be a placeholder, a patsy meant to drive stock prices down for the execs (led by Paul Newman) to purchase before pulling the company out of decline, but unexpectedly, Norville’s seemingly stupid great idea – a circle drawn on a piece of paper – turns out to be a winner.

The story follows the usual drift of such tales: corrupted by wealth and power, Norville becomes what he once provided a foil to, only to receive his comeuppance and repent in time for Christmas. There is of course a woman, a fast-talking, unsentimental reporter (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who becomes ever more pure of heart as Norville is corrupted. This being the Coen brothers, what is interesting about the film is not the plot or thematic material, but rather the many, often surrealist, cinematic details that reference and tinker with the archetypes and stylistic choices of movies of this period (’40s) and genre.