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Year One
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Hudson Hawk
Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 16 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 16 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy
Written by:
Bruce Willis (story)
Robert Craft (story)
Steven E. de Souza
Daniel Waters
Directed by: Michael Lehmann
Release Date:
Theatrical: May 24, 1991
DVD: January 26, 1999
Running Time: 100 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R
Starring Bruce Willis, Danny Aiello, Andie MacDowell, James Coburn, Richard E. Grant, Sandra Bernhard, Donald Burton, and David Caruso
Two Hoboken cat burglars (Willis and Aiello) are drawn into a plot to steal three separate artificats which are part of a machine invented by Leonardo da Vinci that converts lead into gold.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: 40 Days and 40 Nights Because I Said So Flakes Heathers
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Washington Post Hal Hinson
It's an action picture packed dense with the wit of a screwball comedy. And while that may not be a first, it's so bizarrely inventive that being first seems not nearly as important as being best.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Schickel
But if you can see past the thicket of dollar signs surrounding Hudson Hawk, you may discern quite a funny movie -- sort of an "Indiana Jones" send-up with a hip undertone all its own. [10 June 1991]
Empire Joe Berry
What director Lehmann has made is essentially a multi-million dollar cult movie with great effects, a witty script and some good performances, but although some of the eccentric (and occasionally slapstick) humour may not appeal to a mass audience, it is certainly one of the more original blockbusters coming out this summer.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
It doesn't have the polish or the momentum of an Indiana Jones adventure, and isn't too engaging on the plot level, but at least the filmmakers keep it moving with lots of screwball stunts.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Staff (Not Credited)
This one may be just excessive enough to develop a cult following. It also proved quite popular with German audiences, for reasons we've been unable to fathom.
Read Full Review >USA Today Susan Wloszczyna
It ends up choking on a never-ending stream of inept gags... A worst-case scenario of wackiness gone out of whack. [24 May 1991]
Wall Street Journal Julie Salamon
Despite all of its failures of wit, sense, and pace, the film does most effectively flaunt the millions spent on it. The inane action takes place in splendiferous settings. [23 May 1991]
San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
Just awful… There is probably not one interrupted 60-second stretch in which a line of dialogue doesn't clunk, an action doesn't ring false or an irritating plot turn doesn't present itself. [25 May 1991]
Chicago Tribune Clifford Terry
Boring and banal, overwrought and undercooked, Hudson Hawk is beyond bad. [24 May 1991]
Variety Staff (Not Credited)
A relentlessly annoying clay duck that crash-lands in a sea of wretched excess and silliness.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
Everybody figured producer Joel Silver and Willis couldn't lose and guess what? They all rolled craps.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Joe Brown
Merely airheaded where it should be lighthearted, Hudson Hawk offers a klutzy, charmless hero, and wallows dully in limp slapstick and lowest common denominator crudeness.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
A movie this unspeakably awful can make an audience a little crazy. You want to throw things, yell at the actors, beg them to stop. But the film drags on, digging horrible memories into the brain -- like Bruce Willis and Danny Aiello's singing.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
This may be the only would-be blockbuster that's a sprawling, dissociated mess on purpose. It's a perverse landmark: the first postmodern Hollywood disaster.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Even Willis seems a bit bewildered at times, as if asking himself how he managed to get into such a mess. [24 May 1991]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.1 (out of 10) based on 16 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jake M. gave it a10:
To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin "Hudson Hawk is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy". A singular achievement in the annals of Hollywood hubris. Hudson Hawk is inimitable, brilliant, and nothing short of genius. Enjoy...
Crow Robot gave it a7:
I can't blame people for not liking this movie. It's comedy certainly isn't mainstream, and it does feel awkward in the hands of such familiar faces. This film might actually have benefitted from having no-name actors, because the audience might have gone in with no expectations and been able to take the film for what it is instead of what it's supposed to be. The thing this movie does have going for it is that it's pretty consistent. The type of humor they use is used throughout. So if you if part of it makes you laugh, the whole thing makes you laugh. If it doesn't make you laugh, you're out of luck. And I can certainly see why a lot of people don't find it funny. But I do.
Jason E. gave it a10:
Really funny movie. Sit back and enjoy it and don't take it or yourself to seriously.
Harry C gave it a 9:
I really enjoyed this movie. It sort or appealed to the immature side of me i guess. it seems as though the only major problem with it was that everyone expected too much of it when it came out and they weren't able to watchit with an open mind. I guess i liked it becaue i didn't even find out about it until several years after it came out when i knew nothing about it.
Mike W. gave it a 0:
This has got to be the single stupidest movie of all time. I am convinced if you lock 1,000 retarded monkeys in a room with 1,000 type writers in less than ten seconds they would have produced a better movie than Hudson Hawk.
Andrew M gave it a 2:
Sorry folks I think this film does deserve it's bad rep. I do actually think it was a good idea - the premise is appealing and creative - but gee-whiz the execution was poor. For me, everything just landed too heavily, and mostly upside-down at that! The script was a substandard one (even with the four-way input) and the directing was consistently off-target. Credit to the actors for trying, but the powers-that-be behind this bomb deserved all the criticism they got. What should have been a screwy, charismatic film was turned into a senseless, discordant mess.
Rod L. gave it a 9:
You know what? All you critics who didn't like this movie, bite me. I have rarely laughed more than the night I saw this movie for the first time (in the theatre I might add, with an audience that agreed). I remember the day it opened, a local critic said that it wasn't screened for critics, ergo it must be bad. Then five days later proceeded to savage it in print, claiming to be the last person left in the theatre when it was over. Well, duh, critics always stay til the end...
