"Hail, Caesar!" - Review

Would That It Were Actually Kind of Simple

In the grand repertoire of the ever expanding Coen Brothers canon of films, there are their super silly dark comedies and there are their serious films. Sometimes you have a film that is strangely in the middle of these two like Fargo. Hail, Caesar! finds itself in the former category, but refreshingly so. Not without something to say, it is a lighter and breezier film than many of their other pieces of work. It is also an absolute joy to watch actors and writers at their wittiest and silliest. Hail, Caesar! is the first great movie of 2016 just on sheer entertainment value and it is a film lover's dream.

Josh Brolin stars as Eddie Mannix, the production head of a generically named Hollywood film studio that is sort of a strange combination of 1950's Warner Bros. and Universal Studios. He makes sure that everything is running according to plan, but a lot of his time is devoted to putting people in their place. The film opens with Mannix tracking down a woman taking scandalous photos of herself in a stranger's home with studio equipment and dragging her out without anyone finding out that a famous actress was out "being naughty". On an especially busy day with the studio making big changes to films and Mannix being offered a new position at another company to consider, the studio's biggest star Baird Whitlock, played amusingly by George Clooney, is kidnapped off the set of their biggest picture, the Christ focused film "Hail, Caesar!", and is replaced by a ransom note by unknown kidnappers. Mannix has to balance all the busy day to day drama of the studio while also figuring out how to get back their biggest star before it shuts down production or gets to the presses.

The film's plot has enough momentum and zaniness to it to keep itself afloat. What really makes this film truly entertaining is the number of well known performers that are perfectly cast in a variety of interesting roles and the attention to detail concerning the look of old Hollywood films. It has been so long since colors like the bright Technicolor ones used here have been seen on the big screen. Acclaimed cinematographer Roger Deakins once again works with the Coen Brothers to great success. Every frame of this film is gorgeous and at times adds a great deal of visual humor that is subtle but very well implemented. The camera makes every single performer here look immaculate and every bit of scenery a perfect balance of natural and "set-like". It is a very unique looking film that will stand on its own this year for sure.

While many may be left wanting in regards to substance in this script, this is made up for in full with some of the funniest scenes of dialogue that the Coens have written to date. Ralph Fiennes has a scene with Alden Ehrenreich that is gut busting, but it is a scene toward the beginning with Josh

Brolin and a cavalcade of different religious leaders in one room debating the sanctity of Christ and his depiction in the movie that stole the show. I could not hold back my laughter here and I am sure that it annoyed many people in the theater. I will not apologize. It was hilarious. There is also a full old-style tap sequence featuring Channing Tatum as a Gene Kelly type character that was legitimately great. I have not seen a dance number that cheeky and fun since I saw Singing in the Rain for the first time. It is something that we do not ever see in modern film and it was absolutely delightful.

The substance really boils down to Eddie Mannix. I found his character to be incredibly fascinating and surprisingly layered among so many cartoon-like supporting characters. His struggle with his job and his loyalty to his family leading to his religious guilt was very poignant to me. Josh Brolin portrays these conflicting emotions with a great deal of intimacy and it may be one of my favorite performances from him.

Hail, Caesar! is no Fargo or The Big Lebowski and it is definitely not No Country for Old Men or A Serious Man. However, this is still a tremendously entertaining film that should please anyone with reasonable expectations. It is a popcorn film in every sense of that term.

Grade: A-.

Hail, Caesar! is now playing in theaters.