What is unfairly and widely considered a major box office failure and a low point in the Bruce Willis-ness of Bruce Willis, "Hudson Hawk" is, upon colder inspection, a film of great merit. Not only stylized and well-executed, it is also an early example of film hybridization popularized later by films such as "Pulp Fiction", and a fresh, unusual moment of under-appreciated cinema.

Not only suffering because of its billing as a purely action/adventure "guy’s" movie very soon after the release of "Die Hard", "Hudson Hawk" also failed at the box office because of its defiance of being pigeon-holed by a specific genre. "Hudson Hawk" embodies the essence of the dark-yet-warm duality of the cat-burglar caper while also reaching broadly and competently into the veins of slapstick, romance, mystery, and historical epic. It touches on themes of Catholicism’s political power and the secrets of Da Vinci’s artwork long before Dan Brown’s over-hyped novel. This film references current (i.e. 90’s) pop culture in order to juxtapose it against the attitudes of times gone recently and not-so recently by. It shows a man alientated by modernity but equally confused by the past. It is the story of an unwilling Proteus battling with the urge to shrug off the turns of fate and embrace simplicity and morality. There are cartoon noises. There is Andie McDowell. There is Danny Aiello singing "Swinging on a Star" in a brilliant, innovative method of film pacing. There are crucifix intercoms, undertones of the difficulties of obtaining good cappuccino, great works of the master artists, European museums and cityscapes, high-flying high jinks, and the co-writing handiwork of Willis himself. There is alchemy, dry British wit, wet American sarcasm, AND Sylvester Stallone’s brother Frank (with a subtle in-film allusion to this fact). Who could ask for anything more from a film? No one alive during the 90’s, that’s for sure.