History Film / HudsonHawk

%%* WhyWontYouDie: Butterfinger.

* ChristianityIsCatholic: Anna veers close to being a NaughtyNun, so much that her boss complains. But in reality she is a good Catholic.

** Kaplan falls to his death along with the exploding limousine.

* MeaningfulName: Butterfinger is clumsy.

** Almond Joy delights in others' suffering.

* QuirkyMinibossSquad: The Candy Bars, the Mayflowers' mooks who have candy bar-themed codenames.

* TheSeriesHasLeftReality: The film is realistic up to the point where Eddie and Tommy Five-Tone jump off the building and Eddie ends up [[SeamlessScenery falling into a chair in the Mario Brothers' apartment]] (Tommy ends up back at the bar), with no explanation whatsoever. The movie has a number of reality-defying scenes after that.

* PercussiveMaintenance: The Pope's attempt to fix a malfunctioning TV by hitting it with a staff.

*** Eddie gets served one at Anna's place after their date... too bad it [[spoiler: tastes too much like [[InstantSedation ethyl chlorate.]]]]
*** And if you want to be technical about it, [[spoiler: he's not seen drinking that last cappuccino either: the movie freeze-frames just before he takes a sip.]]
*** [[spoiler: He actually does finally drink it. The freeze frame is him tossing the cup over his shoulder after drinking.]]

** [[spoiler: Minerva actually gets coated in bronze, making it a [[BrickJoke Brick Joke]] from the prologue (Hawk's sabotage of the crystal assembly makes the machine do what Da Vinci was trying to accomplish at the beginning)]].

* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: The Mayflowers.

* ArtisticLicenseGeology: Hudson Hawk is given a brick of gold and a brick of lead while blindfolded, to demonstrate that they are indistinguishable. Gold is 70% denser than lead, and the weight difference would be easily noticed. The gold brick would weigh about 30 pounds, but they handle it as if it weighs a couple of pounds. They also mention that gold and lead differ by one proton on the periodic table of elements. The difference is actually 3 protons and 7 neutrons. Perhaps most blatantly, gold is a far better heat sink than lead; Hawk should have noticed the lead brick warming in his hand almost instantly while the gold one stayed cold.

* BattleButler: Alfred, the Mayflowers' butler who's a KnifeNut with a BladeBelowTheShoulder; "A cross between Alistair Cooke and a Cuisinart."

* CIAEvilFBIGood: FBI isn't featured, but ex-CIA Kaplan is definitely evil.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: While Eddie is being threatened by The Mayflowers, Darwin tells Hawk "I'll torture you so slowly you'll think its a career. I'll kill your friends, your family and the bitch you took to the prom!" Eddie responds with "Betty Jo Biarsky? I can get you an address on that if you want." to which George Kaplan can't help but grin and salute Hawk for.

** [[spoiler: Hudson Hawk deliberately sabotaging the assembly of the crystal causes Minerva to be coated in Bronze, which was the machine's original purpose in the prologue]].

* TheForeignSubtitle: Varied versions of "The Master Thief" was added to the title abroad.

** [[spoiler: Minerva actually gets coated in Bronze, making it a [[BrickJoke Brick Joke]] from the prologue (Hawk's sabotage of the crystal assembly makes the machine do what Da Vinci was trying to accomplish at the beginning)]].

GentlemanThief extraordinaire Eddie "Hudson Hawk" Hawkins has just gotten out of prison, and all he really wants is a cappuccino and an honest job. However, his parole officer has teamed up with [[TheMafia two Italian brothers]] with the surname "[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]]" to force him to do {{one last job}} that leads to a madcap series of capers that do all they can to defy summation.

* ChristianityIsCatholic: Anna veers close to being a NaughtyNun, so much that her boss complains. But in reality she is a [[RaisedCatholic Good Catholic]].

* RaisedCatholic:
** Anna states her Catholicism as the reason she won't shoot Almond Joy. And why Hudson is not allowed in her bed. And why she loves Butterfinger, in a weird Catholic way.
** Hudson went to Catholic school, so he is conveniently also Raised Catholic. Which might have been a problem for him and Anna's future. That, and her vows of chastity...

---> I'm the guy who tricked you into robbing a government installation and then had you sent to prison for it.

** "So much for his cut."
** Also, after [[spoiler:Eddie decapitates Alfred:]] "You won't be attending that hat convention in July!

''Hudson Hawk'' is a 1991 action comedy film directed by Michael Lehmann and starring Creator/BruceWillis in the title role, with a supporting cast that includes Creator/DannyAiello, Creator/AndieMacDowell, Creator/JamesCoburn, Creator/RichardEGrant, and Sandra Bernhard.

%%* IndecisiveParody

* DressesTheSame: Kit Kat imitates the dress of Eddie and even mimics his movements.
** Later, he appears wearing the same dress and hairstyle as Anna, which surprises even her.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Hawk and Tommy's insults at one point make Butterfinger laugh so hard his drink comes out of his nose.

* PoisonedWeapons: Almond Joy's curare-tipped blowgun darts, which she uses to knock Anna, Hudson and Tommy.

* NoodleIncident: Captain Jack's steering wheel.

* FamousLastWords:
** Before his time bomb explodes, Snickers takes the time to voice his opinion on it: "Maybe it was a dud."
** Kaplan yells "MY PENSION!!!" before he and Darwin's limousine are sent over the cliff and the resulting explosion from the limo kills him.

* ShoutOut: The locks on the Mayflowers' electronic handcuffs play the ring tone from the Flint Phone in ''Our Man Flint''. Considering James Coburn's in this one, not terribly inappropriate.
** George Kaplan is the spy Cary Grant's mistaken for in ''Film/NorthByNorthwest''.
** Before drinking [[spoiler:Anna's coffee with ethyl chloride]], Hudson quotes ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'':
-->'''Hawk''': Here's looking at you, kid.

-->--'''Hudson Hawk'''

The film was made at a time when Bruce Willis was still making the transition from comedy roles like ''Series/{{Moonlighting}}'' to his ActionHero typecasting. Older tropers experienced with the actor's pre-''Film/DieHard'' career will know this means he [[LargeHam mugs a lot]] and does just about [[RuleOfFunny anything for a laugh]]. And he still has hair (well, mostly ... reportedly, a significant part of why the film went over budget was that Willis insisted on [[https://moneyhoesandclothes.wordpress.com/tag/cgi-hair-replacement/ CGI to hide his thinning hairline]]).

Before it's over, Eddie will hurtle down a freeway on a gurney, unknowingly flirt with a nun, burgle the Vatican with fifty bucks worth of seemingly random items, discover Creator/LeonardoDaVinci's secret formula for turning lead into gold, battle candy-bar codenamed CIA agents (and one ''damned'' annoying [[GroinAttack crotch-biting]] dog), and if he survives all of this, ''then'' he can have his coffee.