[dc]M[/dc]y taste in film covers a wide area. If my tastes were a country’s land area, it would be Russia. Despite my fiancée’s insistence that I don’t like any film made after 2000—mainly because I had not watched Superbad until recently—I enjoy many films. My film collection would suggest as much, which ranges from Oscar-winning classics of the 1960s to b-movies of the 1980s, and many more.
One film that holds a place of honor on my shelf is the Bruce Willis vehicle, Hudson Hawk (1991). It is absurd, ridiculous, and preposterous.
And I love every damn frame. I love the film so much, I even referenced it in one of my comic strips.
I have a soft-spot for absurd action-comedies, and Hudson Hawk is my gold standard. It is also on the short list of films I have purchased in two or more formats: first VHS, and then DVD (Ghostbusters, Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, and Army of Darkness being the others. Star Wars and Indiana Jones will join that list eventually [Update: they did]. Gremlins, however, is the reigning champ: VHS, DVD, and Laserdisc—in that order).
But back to Hudson Hawk. To sum up, it is a love it or hate it film.
Folks I know who love the film, love it to pieces and quote it often (the film is incredibly quotable: “You took down Captain Bob’s steering wheel?!”, “Reindeer goat cheese pizza?!”, “Hey Mr. Hawk, I got your stamps.”).
But, for those who can’t embrace the absurdity, Hudson Hawk is the worst thing put to celluloid this side of Last Action Hero (worthy of a future article).
Is Hudson Hawk a perfect film? Hardly.
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