Today’s quick review: Hail, Caesar!. Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) works for Capitol Pictures, a major Hollywood studio. His job is to make sure shooting runs smoothly, which includes everything from working out filming logistics to wrangling wayward celebrities to running cover with the press. The chaos of his job hits a new peak when Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), the star of the studio’s latest epic, is kidnapped by a group of Communists.
Hail, Caesar! is a comedy from the Coen Brothers that peeks behind the curtain of 1950s Hollywood. Hail, Caesar! features an impressive ensemble cast, a wry sense of humor, and a creative assortment of characters and situations. But in spite of some promising ideas and strong individual scenes, the movie struggles to come together as a whole. Hail, Caesar! captures the barely restrained chaos of show business but does so at the cost of its own cohesion.
Hail, Caesar! boasts an ensemble cast that gives it plenty of acting talent. The cast includes George Clooney as a kidnapped actor, Scarlett Johansson as a pregnant starlet, Ralph Fiennes as a prissy director, Channing Tatum as a musical lead, and Tilda Swinton as a pair of twin reporters. But the bedrock of the film is Josh Brolin’s performance as Eddie Mannix, a quick-thinking, smooth-talking fixer who has the rare trait of being mostly honest.
Unfortunately, Hail, Caesar! does not have much for its cast to do. The plot is too decentralized for any one character to get much screen time, so the cavalcade of stars feels more like a flurry of extended cameos. Nearly all of the performances are vivid, making the individual scenes quite solid. But the movie lacks a clear through line to tie them all together. A handful of late-game connections aren’t enough to wrap the story into a cohesive whole.
Without a sense of purpose, even the movie’s best-executed scenes fall flat. Hail, Caesar! has the makings of a fascinating story in the travails of Eddie Mannix and the farcical kidnapping of Baird Whitlock. But rather than focus on this one plot thread, it spreads its attention between many, with the result that none of them have room to grow. Hail, Caesar! is a fine movie, but its piecemeal nature keeps it from ever finding its rhythm.
Try Hail, Caesar! if you’re a fan of the Coen Brothers or you’re in the mood for a subtle, tongue-in-cheek comedy backed by a talented cast. Look elsewhere if you want a more focused story, more overt comedy, or simply the Coen Brothers at their best. For more robust comedy in the same vein, try O Brother, Where Art Thou? or The Grand Budapest Hotel. For a musical love letter to Hollywood, try La La Land.
6.3 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.5 to 7.0 for a strong cast and a story that spreads itself too thin.