Rating: A-
The latest goofy flick by the Coen Brothers provides multitudes of spazzy plotlines, weird humour and wtf moments. Following a day in the life of ‘Hollywood fixer’ Eddie Mannix (played superbly by Josh Brolin), Hail Caesar’s ramshackle plot serves up random portions of lead actors gone missing, pregnant stars wedding in-house lawyers, and renowned British directors dealing with outrageously bad casting mismatches.
Set in 1951, almost exclusively at the sprawling Capitol studios in Hollywood, the film industry is busy responding to the advent of television with over-the-top film making. Cinematographer Roger Deakins and Jess Gonchor’s production design combine to create a pretty impressive homage to 1950s film. The awesome effects of these extravagant sets and vivid colours charmed and effectively sidetracked me from the plot holes that began appearing about halfway through the movie.
But despite the wayward and diverging plotlines, the Coen Brothers still managed to create a number of strong and enjoyable characters. From Clooney’s reprisal of his goofy and numskull character (think O Brother, Where Art Thou?) playing the lead actor who is kidnapped by Hollywood Communists, to Alden Ehrenreich’s “game and gamey” Hobie Doyle, the film introduces us to a vast range of personalities and problems.
The film’s hilarity is boosted by a handful of fantastic scenes, as Baird Whitlock attempts to figure exactly what his captors are up to (the advent of American Communism as it turns out), Channing Tatum exhibits pretty impressive tap dancing skills, and Mannix appeals to priests representing every religious affiliation you could dream of. What truly steals the show though, is the scene invlovling Ralph Fiennes’ Mr Laurentz and his dramatically inadequate male lead, as they wrangle with Hobie’s opening line “would that it were so simple”, and ultimately create pure comedy gold out of problematic pronounciation. Unfortunately, Hobie “barely knows how to talk”.
While Hail Caesar does suffer periodic lapses of depth and punch, the film stays true to its aim of creating a visual homage to period cinema. For a light night at the cinema, I would 100 percent recommend.