Book Review: David Hughes Digs Into THE UNMAKING OF HUDSON HAWK
Since its release in 1991, Michael Lehmann’s Hudson Hawk has always been something of an under-appreciated masterpiece. The Bruce Willis starring action-comedy was hammered by the press before it even came out and it ultimately bombed at the US box office when it opened 35 years ago, grossing a little over $17 million. Since then, the film has been a Hollywood punchline for excess, grouping it alongside big budget failures like Ishtar and Heaven’s Gate.
The humour may be a required taste, but if you embrace Hudson Hawk for its anarchic sensibilities then you’ll be rewarded. Willis, coming off the success of the first two Die Hard films is at the top of his powers, oozing charm as the just-freed cat burglar forced into committing a series of heists. The supporting cast is also strong – Danny Aiello, Andie MacDowell, James Coburn, Richard E. Grant and Sandra Bernhard all deliver off-beat comedic turns. The action set pieces are very well staged – as are the musical numbers and Michael Kamen and Robert Kraft’s score is wonderful. There’s so much to recommend in Hudson Hawk – and the film’s biggest crime is that it was so far ahead of its time. Audiences wanted Willis in John McClane mode, but instead they got him playing in a comedic realm that sits somewhere between Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief and The Three Stooges.
Now, 35 years on, writer David Hughes lifts up the curtain and unveils what really happened on the set with The Unmaking Of Hudson Hawk. The book traces the film back to its origins in the bars of New York when Willis was a struggling actor/bartender and co-creator Robert Kraft was an up-and-coming songwriter. Buoyed by the success of Moonlighting, Willis set about developing Hudson Hawk with a pair of that show’s writers (Jeff Reno and Ron Osborn). Then the stratospheric success of Die Hard hit and Hudson Hawk went into overdrive when Joel Silver became involved as producer. What then ensued was an epic tale of egos, money, politics and… well, just about anything else that might go wrong when making a big budget star-driven would-be blockbuster across Europe in the early 1990s.
Hughes speaks to many of the key players involved, from co-creator Robert Kraft, screenwriters Steven E. de Souza and Daniel Waters to director Michael Lehmann and other members of the cast and crew. Richard E. Grant‘s witty Withnails diary is used for his caustic quotes, while there’s nothing new from producer Joel Silver. Sadly, Bruce Willis is now suffering from the brain condition aphasia and has withdrawn from public life – it would have been great to hear his thoughts on the making of the film. As a side note, I was lucky enough to find myself on a glass boat with Willis, travelling up the River Thames as part of the Red 2 press junket in 2013. While discussing that spy flick, I took the opportunity to tell him that Hudson Hawk was one of my favourite films – he seemed happy (but a little bashful) and thanked me for mentioning it.
The book delves into the chaotic nature of bringing Hudson Hawk to the screen – from Willis and Silver over-ruling Lehmann’s direction, to co-star Maruschka Detmers dropping out days into filming (to be replaced by Andie MacDowell) as well as constant onset script rewrites which played havoc with the schedule and filming locations. The Unmaking Of Hudson Hawk is an energetic read, that grabs you from its opening and pulls you through early script treatments, the chaotic production and right through to the disastrous premiere and now to the film’s rebirth as a cult classic. If you’re a fan, then you need to get your hands on this tell-all book and hopefully we’ll all be able to finally see Hudson Hawk soar – and maybe even get to see that 2 hour 30 minute cut that’s mentioned!
