Episode #102: Hudson Hawk

Listen to Episode 102 of the Podcast here while you enjoy the show notes.

SUMMARY - Hudson Hawk (played by Bruce Willis) is a highly skilled cat burglar who was just released from prison. Immediately after getting out, his friends and parole officer get him involved in a heist to steal a sculpture from an auction house. Along the way, he discovers he’s caught in the middle of two warring sides that are part of a convoluted scheme for world domination, and many different people want him dead.

Screenplay by Steven E. de Souza and Daniel Waters; Directed by Michael Lehmann; and released on May 24, 1991.

FILM DISCUSSION

The movie has a slightly confusing start as it gives a "Princess Bride"-like storybook thing that talks about Leonardo DaVinci.

But it does give us a look at what the humor will be thanks to this literal Mona Lisa smile.

The whole movie is presented as a live-action cartoon filled with wacky sound effects and Looney Tunes situations.

That also means that the action in the action movie is tampered down a bit.

There are some explosions though they are poorly timed. A couple vehicles go boom mid-air.

Still, at least one sequence found that perfect balance of adrenaline and humor.

We liked the chemistry of Richard E. Grant & Sandra Bernhard as the villains.

In fact, it's clear the whole cast was having a ton of fun making this one and that did help.

There's a semi-love story mixed in here

But everything and everyone is connected in some way.

We liked that the move leaned in to its goofiness but still most of the humor didn't exactly land.

Perhaps there's just biting off more than it can chew, or maybe they decided to not fine tune the script.

Awards Talk: It was nominated for Worst Picture at the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards. At the Razzies, it was nominated for Worst Actor (Willis), Worst Supporting Actor (Grant), and Worst Supporting Actress (Bernhard). It also won for Worst Screenplay, Worst Director, and Worst Picture. The film was also nominated for the Worst Picture of the Decade but lost to Showgirls.

TRUE CRIME & POP CULTURE

This week we don't have any true crime to talk about so we jump right into music and we discuss the singing careers of two of the stars.

Bruce Willis had a somewhat successful singing career

You may have seen this video for "Respect Yourself"

His version of "Under the Boardwalk" with The Temptations hit #2 on the UK Charts in 1987

Danny Aiello also went after a singing career, and did spend time on Broadway.

He infamously created "Papa Wants the Best For You" which was a response song to the Madonna video he starred in: "Papa Don't Preach"

We talk about his life show, and here's a recording of "All of Me" from that.

RANKINGS & RATINGS

Nikki 1-5 star scale - 2 out of 5

Jon 0-4 star scale - 1 out of 4

Would you watch it again? - Nikki says that while it wouldn't be her first choice, she had enough fun watching the cartoony action to watch it again if it happened to be on. Jon would not be joining her, because while the movie had potential to be a lot better than it was, he was too annoyed by the obvious jokes and lackluster everything else.

If you want to watch Hudson Hawk, as of this recording in February 2023, it’s available on Digital Rental, VHS, DVD. Check your local listings.

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