Hail, Caesar!
Hail, Caesar!is a funny and madcap, if unfocused, farcical salute to Golden Age Hollywood from the Coen Brothers.
Hail , Caesar!explores a day in the aliveness of Eddie Mannix ( Josh Brolin ) , whose official claim is " Head of Physical Production " at Capitol Pictures - but who , in reality , is a " fixer " who spend his day controlling the studio ’s public double and keeping a mean lid on any possible scandals go around around Capitol ’s A - list acting talent . Whether he ’s orchestrating a kinship for Capitol ’s pry western mavin Hobie Doyle ( Alden Ehrenreich ) or finding a novel husband for swimmer / starlet DeeAnna Moran ( Scarlett Johansson ) before the press gets wind of her unexpected gestation , Eddie always has a full plate - something that does n’t on the button help Eddie to quit smoking and inspires him to make frequent trips to confession , much to his local priest ’s consternation .
When Baird Whitlock ( George Clooney ) - one of Capitol ’s biggest stars and the lead for the studio ’s coming big - budget epic , Hail , Casear ! A Tale of the Christ- is snatch and hold for ransom , Eddie thus springs into action to make certain that Baird is returned safely andHail , Caesar!continues to move forward on agenda . Question is , who are Baird ’s mysterious kidnappers - a group that refers to itself as but " The Future " - and just what are they hoping to accomplish with their illicit scheme ?
The latest original foundation from the minds of Oscar - winning filmmaking brothers Ethan and Joel Coen , Hail , Caesar!shares much in common with the Coens ' previous body of work - with perhaps the most obvious examples for comparison beingThe Hudsucker Proxy(a screwball drollery medley likeHail , Caesar ! ) andBarton Fink , as the latter also satirise Golden Age Hollywood and even feature the same fictional picture studio apartment , Capitol Pictures . However , Hail , Caesar!in many ways bears an equally impregnable resemblance to the Coens ' dark funniness / dramaA Serious Man , in terms of theme and approximation ; though , the former is far more light - hearted and playful ( if also less substantial and organized ) than the latter .
Hail , Caesar!is pitch - perfect when it occur to devote homage to the pop moving picture that were released under the Hollywood studio system around the mid-20th century ; whether it be a Busby Berkley - manner dance sequence ( set in a pocket billiards ) or a Gene Kelly - pep up melodious issue led by a hydrant - dancing Channing Tatum ( as blonde - haired Capitol whizz Burt Gurney ) , the Coens and their frequent cinematographer , the fabled Roger Deakins , deftly recreate the colouring material , timbre , and overall aesthetic of Golden Age Hollwood fare throughout the cinema . At the same time , like every Coen Brothers moving picture pastiche , everything is play with a wink and an off - beat way-out cutaneous senses , even as the Coens and Deakins weave in non-white constituent - like Noir light schemes / imagination , as well as visual motive that allude to Eddie Mannix ’s religious guilt and worry - that land out the moving picture ’s serious side . Couple that with with child historical yield innovation as well as costumes and it ’s fair to say : Hail , Caesar!is as gorgeous - looking as a Coen Brothers movie can get and serves up its sightly share of fantabulous optical comedy too … even if the substance is n’t so much there , this clip around .
Part of the reasonHail , Caesar!is such an odd duck’s egg ( even for the Coen Brothers ) can be attributed to the wide meshing the cinema casts while essay its fifties setting ; bear on on everything from Soviet Union and post - Atomic bomb era paranoia to the structure of the old Hollywood studio system , while at the same time drawing parallel to the present Clarence Shepard Day Jr. world . There ’s a lot to take out here , but the various puzzler pieces ofHail , Caesar!don’t add up to an especially cohesive whole - and many of the idea and concepts in play here have been better ( and more cautiously ) explore in prior Coen Brothers picture show . Hail , Caesar!entertains as a cheeky erotic love varsity letter to old Hollywood , but something likeA Serious Manprobably holds up substantially after multiple viewings and further analysis for link up reasons .
Similarly , the Coen Brothers ' screenplay forHail , Caesar!is loosely structure to a fault and often work off on extended tangent - in the process , serving up a cosmic string of sequence that are generally comical ( if only for their sheer absurdity ) , but take on for too long severally . This is partially intentional , since the whole tale is presented as being ( quite literally ) just another day in Eddie Mannix ’s life ; and when all is said and done , Hail , Caesar!resembles a " much hustle about nothing " forcemeat in the nervure ofBurn After Reading , more than anything else . Even so , theHail , Caesar!narrative is most successful as a series of loosely - connected screwball funniness throwback sequences , less so when it aspires to use Eddie ’s day to day experiences ( and the role that his Catholic faith and commitment to the " grounds " of show business dramatic play in his action ) to create a more meaningful thematic through - line .
Hail , Caesar!reunites the Coen Brothers with many an actor who has collaborated with the pair before - as such , the ensemble cast by and big wind up earning eminent scrape in the Coen Brothers school of clowning carrying into action ( somewhere between comically over the top caricature and more strand ) . Josh Brolin , who have the most silver screen prison term out of the whole hurl , play the quick - thinking Eddie Mannix - loosely inspired by genuine - lifetime Hollywood " fixer " Joseph ' Eddie ' Mannix - and handle the lineament ’s witty repartee and here and now of vulnerability alike with aplomb . Next , in term of screen sentence is Alden Ehrenreich , who gets to show off his comedic chop shot ( and riff on his own heartthrob appealingness in films likeBeautifulCreatures ) with his bout as dewy-eyed - disposed westerly star ( and rodeo specialist ) Hobie Doyle .
George Clooney ’s persona inHail , Caesar!is little than his turns in Coen Brothers movie preceding ( BurnAfterReadingaside ) , but Baird Whitlock - a popular A - Baron Lister who ’s not as intelligent as he fashions himself to be - is yet another fine addition to Clooney ’s body of work playing dimwits for the Coen Brothers . Most of the residue of the mold only show up in a few scene , either playing characters who are clearly design to be comical remove on real - life Hollywood icons ( Scarlett Johansson as Esther Williams - esque DeeAnna Moran , Ralph Fiennes meet the Laurence Olivier - inspire Laurence Laurentz ) and/or oddball types likely animate by real people , but who palpate like pure Coen Brothers creations ( Tilda Swinton as the twin gossipmonger cartridge holder author Thora and Thessaly Thacke , and so off ) . Most of the moving-picture show ’s characters are n’t developed beyond being entertainingly two - dimensional personalities , but that ’s appropriate given thatHail , Caesar!is foremost a travesty - and the form seems to be enjoying themselves , overplay it up as is called for .
Hail , Caesar!is a funny and lunatic , if unfocussed , ludicrous salutation to Golden Age Hollywood from the Coen Brothers . The movie may not be as substantial nor innovative as some of the filmmaking siblings ' former work , but it ’s a well - craft comical romp nonetheless - one that offer the amusement note value of an old - fashioned melodious , showbiz melodrama , Noir mystery , and a screwball comedy all undulate into one package . While its mixture of definitely off - rhythm humor and " inside baseball game " perspective on Hollywood ’s Golden Age does n’t exactly make the film an easy sell to mainstream audiences , Hail , Caesar!nonetheless serves up jolly much everything that cinephiles could need for ( and have number to expect ) from a newfangled Coen Brothers clowning .
Scarlett Johansson in Hail, Caesar!
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Hail , Caesaris now play in U.S. field nationwide . It is 106 minutes long and is Rated PG-13 for some indicatory substance and smoke .
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Set in the 1950s , the Coen Brothers ' Hail , Caesar ! is a 2016 comedy that moving-picture show be Eddie Mannix ( Josh Brolin ) , a Hollywood synthetic heroin tax with keeping the studio apartment ’s stars in line . When the leading man of the studio ’s large film , Baird Whitlock ( George Clooney ) , is abduct , Mannix must rescue him and economize the pic ’s release .
Scarlett Johansson in Hail, Caesar!
George Clooney in Hail, Caesar!
