HUDSON
HAWK (1991)
Starring
Bruce Willis, Danny Aiello, Andie MacDowell, James Coburn, Richard E.
Grant, Sandra Bernhard, Donald Burton, David Caruso. Directed by
Michael Lehmann. (100 min).
ON
BLU-RAY FROM
Review
by Tiger the Terrible😾
One
of the 90’s more notorious flops, Hudson Hawk was
essentially a Bruce Willis vanity project, and an expensive one at
that. After two Die Hard films, he had a lot of clout and took
full advantage of it, co-writing the so-called story and instilling
it with an fun-loving, irreverent tone that reflected his off-screen
persona.
Though
not the ego-driven dumpster fire it’s reputed to be, Hudson Hawk was
massively disappointing at the time and revisiting it years later
didn’t change my opinion. It remains a supremely schizophrenic
film, striving to be a crime caper, whimsical comedy, slapstick
farce, action film and sometimes even a musical. All those elements are
liberally tossed into a pot yet never quite congeal, despite vigorous stirring.
Still, Willis would later whore-out his name in far worse movies,
wouldn’t he? In this one, at least he still seems to care.
 |
| Bruce meets his critics. |
Sincerity
is the one thing Hudson Hawk has
going for it...and that's fine up to a point. Willis and the cast
truly appear to be having a lot of fun, which is occasionally
infectious. It’s hard not to watch the congenial interaction
between Eddie Hawkins (Willis) and “Five-Tone” Mussina (Danny
Aiello) without a smile on your face. On the other hand, the film too
often descends into juvenile slapstick that seems to belong in
another movie, as do some embarrassingly over-the-top
performances...such as a truly obnoxious Sandra Bernhard (who was
never very funny to begin with). And when the actual plot does
rear its ugly head now and again, it feels more like an intrusion.
Three
decades later, Hudson Hawk is no Last Action Hero (a
similarly pricey disaster that enjoyed a bit of reassessment over
the years). It’s a film with a few fine moments, but not enough to
make one appreciate it any more than they did back then. Anybody who loved
or hated it in 1991 will likely love or hate it now. If you’re
among the former, you probably already have this on DVD, which came
with bonus features that aren’t included on the Blu-ray. So the
only reason to double-dip would be for the retro slipcase.
KITTY CONSENSUS:
MEH...LIKE SHARING THE BED WITH THE DOG.
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