Hudson Hawk

Hudson Hawk casts Bruce Willis as Eddie Hawkins, a skilled cat burglar who’s drawn into a caper, alongside longtime partner Tommy (Danny Aiello), involving the works of Leonardo da Vinci – with the characters’ efforts complicated by a whole host of oddball periphery figures (including Richard E. Grant’s Darwin, David Caruso’s Kit Kat, and James Coburn’s George). Filmmaker Michael Lehmann, working from Steven E. de Souza and Daniel Waters’ script, delivers an exceedingly erratic yet generally watchable comedy that benefits from Willis’ irresistibly commanding and charismatic performance, and it’s clear, too, that the picture is at its best when focused on Eddie and Tommy’s lighthearted antics together (ie there’s a boundless amount of chemistry between Willis and Aiello, to be sure). Hudson Hawk’s momentum, then, does take a fairly palpable hit as it progresses into its unabashedly over-the-top midsection, as the growing emphasis on the exploits of uniformly quirky side characters results in an uneven, often aggressively frenetic atmosphere – with this vibe certainly heightened by a somewhat off-puttingly broad third act that’s more miss than hit, ultimately. (It doesn’t help, surely, that most of the movie’s jokes and gags simply aren’t able to pack the laugh-out-loud punch intended.) Still, Hudson Hawk, for the most part, comes off as a diverting piece of work that generally fares better than its rather notorious reputation might suggest.

**1/2 out of ****