Hail, Caesar

I normally look forward to any Coen Brothers film with anticipation, but when I found out their latest dealt with 1950's Hollywood, my anticipation went up a few notches. With nods left, right and center to all sorts of famous classic films and the stars that occupied them, this film is going to be a hoot for anyone who has spent far too much time watching Turner Classic Movies. You know, someone like me.

Eddie Mannix (played by Josh Brolin) is a studio executive and "fixer" for Capital Pictures. He spends his days fixing assorted problems around the studio. From the relatively mundane, such as filling an open casting spot in an ongoing film with a rising star, Hobie Doyle (played by Alden Ehrenreich) to the more scandalous, such as dealing with pregnant out of wedlock star Deanna Moran (played by Scarlett Johansson). His biggest problem is his newest when the star of the studio's new prestige picture, Hail, Caesar, Baird Whitlock (played by George Clooney) has been kidnapped and is being held for ransom by a group calling themselves "The Future." This leaves Eddie scrambling to meet the kidnappers demands while keeping it out of the Hollywood Gossip columns written by twin sisters Thora and Thessaly Thacker (both played by Tilda Swinton). The chaos that ensues leaves Eddie wondering if he would be happier taking the job that's being offered to him by Lockheed Martin, whose recruiter keeps hounding him throughout the film.  

Joel and Ethan Coen, along with their Director of Photography Roger Deakins, do a fantastic job recreating the style of 1950's cinema, whether it be Hail Caesar, Deanna Moran performing an Esther Williams style water ballet or Hobie Doyle in a western shoot-out, they manage to perfectly capture the look of each of those types of films. They also draw inspiration from the films of the era itself, with George Clooney riffing on a mix of Tony Curtis and Charlton Heston as the star of the latest sword and sandal picture, in the vein of Ben-Hur or The Ten Commandments. Scarlett Johansson's Deanna Moran is clearly a riff on Esther Williams, while we also have Channing Tatum taking on Gene Kelly in a musical number for a film that is clearly referencing and spoofing Anchors Aweigh. But the one that quietly stole the show for me was Alden Ehrenreich as Western star Hobie Doyle. He is cast at the last minute in a drama where he really has to act and finds himself very much out of his depth when he's out of the saddle. The biggest laughs in the movie were when the film's director, Laurence Laurentz (played by Ralph Feinnes) is trying desperately to get Hobie to say a line correctly. Poor Hobie wants to do nothing more that please his director but has a heck of a time trying to say the line, "Would that it were so simple."  Later, while on a studio fixed date, he impresses his date by making a small lasso out of a piece of cooked spaghetti, giving new meaning to the term spaghetti western.

The interesting thing about this film is that all the advertising is focused on the kidnapping aspect of the plot, whereas the film itself is squarely focused on Eddie Mannix and all the different things he has to deal with over the course of a two day period the film takes place in. It is very much a character piece as many Coen Brothers films are and doesn't get bogged down in such things as a straight-forward plot. Yes, the Baird Whitlock kidnapping is a big part of the story, but it isn't the whole story. It is much more focused on Eddie, a man at a crossroads of his life wondering if he should keep his Hollywood Studio job or take the cushy Lockheed Martin job and all the things in his life, the various star and starlet scandals and issues he has to deal with making him wonder if it's all worth it. I figured I would clarify this a bit since many people have been disappointed in the film as they were clearly expecting something else. 

Overall, Hail Caesar probably isn't what most would consider classic Coen Brothers. But it is still good Coen Brothers and for me that's plenty good enough. There are some hearty laughs in the film, some surprise twists and it certainly kept my attention from beginning to end. If the subject matter interests you as well, then I can confidently say you're probably going to have a good time with it as well.