Hail, Caesar!

I’m a sucker for anything to do with old Hollywood. (Obscure reference alert...) I watched every episode of The Lot when that was on AMC. So, when I saw the trailer for the newest Coen Brothers movie, Hail, Caesar! I was intrigued. The film piqued my interest to such an extent, that I decided to ignore my love/hate relationship with the filmmaking duo to check it out...

To start, the script of Hail, Caesar! (penned by the Coen Brothers, as per usual) is a complicated one. In the midst of sitting through it, the writer inside of me sat there wishing that I had written it myself. (As a side note: my old Hollywood TV pilot is now dead to me). The script is a complex, interwoven slice-of-life, following a handful of different story-lines taking place during a typical day at Capital Pictures, a fictional movie studio in Hollywood during the 1950s. The string tying all the narratives together is studio boss Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin). The A-story line follows the kidnapping of studio leading man Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) by a shadowy, mysterious organization (no spoilers!). This is one of many plot lines, following a number of interesting, and well developed characters through various conflicts.


The film has a massive, and decidedly A-list cast. Scarlett Johansson plays DeeAnna Moran, an Esther Williams type aquatic musical actress, who’s love life is proving difficult for the studio PR machine to control. Ralph Fiennes is harried director Laurence Laurentz. Jonah Hill plays professional Hollywood “person” Joseph Silverman. Tilda Swinton and Channing Tatum round out the versatile group of performers.

Visually, the film is gorgeous. The design team does an incredible job creating the highly stylized image most of us see when we think of old Hollywood. The pic below is from DeAnna Moran’s water ballet. The composition of the shot is flawless. Looking from the rich, emerald green of her swimsuit to the layered colors of the curtains behind her, the look of the film has the crisp and polished aesthetic of a feature from the peak of the CinemaScope era like Oklahoma, or How to Marry a Millionaire. If this film were released in November or December, this writer would definitely be predicting a technical Oscar nomination for Hail, Caesar!. 

The creation of the old Hollywood aesthetic goes as far as the dozens of movie scenes depicted on-screen as Mannix goes through the narrative. There are musical numbers (including one by Channing Tatum demonstrating a Gene Kelly-esque versatility that this writer definitely wasn't expecting), western scenes, and elegant costume dramas all seen at various points. The talented cast manages to walk a complicated line in creating beat accurate interpretations of these common film genres of the immediate post World War II period, and then to incorporate little character quirks which break from the squeaky clean images, further contributing to Hail, Caesar!’s quirky humor.

Young actor Alden Ehrenreich’s performance as western turned drama actor Hobie Doyle stood out as one to watch. Ehrenreich is fairly new to Hollywood, having broken out in 2013’s teen fantasy Beautiful Creatures. He is developing a solid filmography, with credit’s in 2013’s Stoker and Blue Jasmine. His performance as the Gene Autry like, western actor Doyle who is thrust into a heavily dramatic piece has a wide-eyed honesty to it, definitely tagging the young actor as one to watch in the future.

Watching Hail, Caesar! the film can best be described as a quirky comedy (you never can be too sure when you go to see a Coen Brothers movie). However, there’s a strong potential for the humor to be inaccessible to some. Viewing this film in a group of four people, this writer found us split straight down the middle. Half of the group loved the film, half hated it. If you aren’t a fan of the Coen Brothers other works, I wouldn’t have this one be your first.

As of February 5th, Hail, Caesar! is currently out in wide release, and can likely be seen at a multiplex near you.

My verdict: Four/Five stars