समाचार

Sure to be the biggest disappointment this summer, ''Hudson Hawk'' will severely test Bruce Willis' star power. Only diehard Willis fans will derive even the remotest pleasure from this amateurish flick.

What happened? Who knows? We can only hope that the many talented people involved in this fiasco have learned from what must have been a major league error in judgment.

The most disappointing aspect is that the ingredients necessary for this to be a successfully offbeat, campy comedy were in place from the beginning. Apparently, the powers that be either lost the recipe or chose to experiment. Bad choice.

Here's the story. Eddie Hawkins (Willis), otherwise known as Hudson Hawk, has just gotten out of prison after 10 years. He had been the world's greatest cat burglar until his incarceration, but now he just wants to go straight.

Unfortunately, there are others who have different plans in mind for Eddie. Even though he claims to have not heard of Nintendo, Eddie is immediately pressured into pulling a robbery by the stupid Mario Brothers. For reasons unclear to him, he is to steal a famous horse sculpted by Leonardo Da Vinci. The Hawk and his best friend and partner Tommy Five-Tone (Danny Aiello) proceed to do just that. In Two Stooges fashion, they pull it off rather easily.

After delivering the stolen goods, Hawk starts to realize there is more here than meets the eye. When one of the bad guys asks for his cut, Alfred (Donald Burton), a stuffy British sort, slashes his throat, then says, ''Forgive my dry British humor.'' And this is the subtle stuff.

Next, Hawk is abducted by CIA operative George Kaplan (James Coburn) and his candy-bar-named associates. He wakes up in Rome where he is now instructed to steal da Vinci's notebooks. He is further harassed and confused by Darwin (Richard E. Grant) and Minerva (Sandra Bernhard) Mayflower, two wealthy and power-hungry trendsetters who want the ''Hawk-meister'' to help them dominate the world.

The Vatican is also somehow involved (one of the rare funny moments is seeing the Pope watching ''Mr. Ed''), and their undercovers agent is Sister Anna (Andie MacDowell), who sleeps with the Hawk and falls in love with the big lug.

It all sounds like one giant, happy romp, but instead it turns out to be a muddled, misdirected mess. With few exceptions, there is very little acting going on here. Willis is having a ball just being himself. MacDowell truly looks like she wishes she were somewhere else. And Aiello apparently will take any part that allows him to sing. It is more their characters, or lack of, that is the problem. Only Grant as the over-the-top billionaire and Coburn as the demented agent add any life to their roles.

There are one or two genuine laughs, but mostly every gag, line and plot device fall flat. This ''Hawk'' has no bite.

HUDSON HAWK

A Tri-Star Release

Director Michael Lehmann

Writers Steven E. de Souza, Daniel Waters

Story by Bruce Willis, Robert Kraft

Director of photography Dante Spinotti, A.I.C.

Editors Chris Lebenzon, Michael Tronick

Music Michael Kamen, Robert Kraft

Producer Joel Silver

Color

Cast:

Hudson Hawk Bruce Willis

Tommy Five-Tone Danny Aiello

Anna Baragli Andie MacDowell

George Kaplan James Coburn

Darwin Mayflower Richard E. Grant

Minerva Mayflower Sandra Bernhard

Running time -- 95 minutes

MPAA Rating: R

(c) The Hollywood Reporter...

Unlike Clarence in ''It's a Wonderful Life, '' ''Hudson Hawk'' has no chance of ever getting its wings. This film not only doesn't fly, it barely crawls.

Sure to be the biggest disappointment this summer, ''Hudson Hawk'' will severely test Bruce Willis' star power. Only diehard Willis fans will derive even the remotest pleasure from this amateurish flick.

What happened? Who knows? We can only hope that the many talented people involved in this fiasco have learned from what must have been a major league error in judgment.

The most disappointing aspect is that the ingredients necessary for this to be a successfully offbeat, campy comedy were in place from the beginning. Apparently, the powers that be either lost the recipe or chose to experiment. Bad choice.

Here's the story. Eddie Hawkins (Willis), otherwise known as Hudson Hawk, has just gotten out of prison after 10 years. He had been the world's greatest cat burglar until his incarceration, but now he just wants to go straight.

Unfortunately, there are others who have different plans in mind for Eddie. Even though he claims to have not heard of Nintendo, Eddie is immediately pressured into pulling a robbery by the stupid Mario Brothers. For reasons unclear to him, he is to steal a famous horse sculpted by Leonardo Da Vinci. The Hawk and his best friend and partner Tommy Five-Tone (Danny Aiello) proceed to do just that. In Two Stooges fashion, they pull it off rather easily.

After delivering the stolen goods, Hawk starts to realize there is more here than meets the eye. When one of the bad guys asks for his cut, Alfred (Donald Burton), a stuffy British sort, slashes his throat, then says, ''Forgive my dry British humor.'' And this is the subtle stuff.

Next, Hawk is abducted by CIA operative George Kaplan (James Coburn) and his candy-bar-named associates. He wakes up in Rome where he is now instructed to steal da Vinci's notebooks. He is further harassed and confused by Darwin (Richard E. Grant) and Minerva (Sandra Bernhard) Mayflower, two wealthy and power-hungry trendsetters who want the ''Hawk-meister'' to help them dominate the world.

The Vatican is also somehow involved (one of the rare funny moments is seeing the Pope watching ''Mr. Ed''), and their undercovers agent is Sister Anna (Andie MacDowell), who sleeps with the Hawk and falls in love with the big lug.

It all sounds like one giant, happy romp, but instead it turns out to be a muddled, misdirected mess. With few exceptions, there is very little acting going on here. Willis is having a ball just being himself. MacDowell truly looks like she wishes she were somewhere else. And Aiello apparently will take any part that allows him to sing. It is more their characters, or lack of, that is the problem. Only Grant as the over-the-top billionaire and Coburn as the demented agent add any life to their roles.

There are one or two genuine laughs, but mostly every gag, line and plot device fall flat. This ''Hawk'' has no bite.

HUDSON HAWK

A Tri-Star Release

DirectorMichael Lehmann

WritersSteven E. de Souza, Daniel Waters

Story byBruce Willis, Robert Kraft

Director of photographyDante Spinotti, A.I.C.

EditorsChris Lebenzon, Michael Tronick

MusicMichael Kamen, Robert Kraft

ProducerJoel Silver

Color

Cast:

Hudson HawkBruce Willis

Tommy Five-ToneDanny Aiello

Anna BaragliAndie MacDowell

George KaplanJames Coburn

Darwin MayflowerRichard E. Grant

Minerva MayflowerSandra Bernhard

Running time -- 95 minutes

MPAA Rating: R

(c) The Hollywood Reporter...