Michael Lehmann directs Bruce Willis, Danny Aiello and Andie MacDowell in this meta action comedy where a cat burglar gets trapped in a caper between the Vatican, the CIA and two eccentric millionaires.

A folly. Kicked to death on release. But also ahead of its time and a giddy rollercoaster ride of smirk. There are two ways to approach the cult of Hudson Hawk. A few beers in and let the hubristic relentless smarm wash over you. Or with intense concentration as within the garish hyperactivity there are gags so intricate and delicate that they only make sense on a third or fourth watch. I promise you even the second or third time I watched this I couldn’t tell you why Andie MacDowell was talking like a dolphin. There are absolute glories scattered about – David Caruso’s mime henchman, the timing of the heists to show tunes, Richard E Grant and Sandra Bernhard’s maniacal exposition spitters, “Airbags! Can you fucking believe it?”. It is a balls out, middle finger up to the blockbuster formula made with blockbuster money. Does it need to make sense if it moves this fast? Do you need snappy one liner when every meta gag is a work of precision? Does a Bruce Willis summer release need to be gritty to work? Let the biggest star in Hollywood in his day raise his eyebrow at you for two epileptic hours. Moonlighting remade with brightly coloured action dolls.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Money Train (1995)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/ and my own Substack https://substack.com/@edinburghlaughterbulletin