Hail, Caesar!, 2016.
Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen.
Starring Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johansson, Jonah Hill, Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes and Alden Ehrenreich.
SYNOPSIS:
A studio fixer in 1950s Hollywood has his work cut out keeping his stars in line. An A list actress is pregnant but decidedly single. More important is the disappearance of the studio’s leading man, which puts its next big-budget epic in jeopardy.
Prepare to bathe yet again in the golden glow of Tinsel Town in its heyday, oh lovers of 50s Hollywood! Just a month after its release, Jay Roach’s Trumbo gets something of a companion piece from no less than Joel and Ethan Coen. Hail, Caesar! sees the brothers in playful mood, venturing back into comedy, adding a touch of satire and mixing it all together with the utmost affection and relish for the period setting.
There’s nothing Hollywood loves more than seeing itself on the big screen and here the Coens have given us several films within a film, complete with all-star casts. George Clooney is dim-witted superstar, Baird Whitlock, leading man in Capitol Pictures’ forthcoming epic – yes, Hail, Caesar! Scarlett Johansson is DeAnna Moran, a glamorous starlet who swims rather than speaks in her movies – because of a rasping Brooklyn accent. Channing Tatum is Burt Gurney, channelling Gene Kelly in a sailor-suited song and dance routine. And Alden Ehrenreich is Hobie Doyle, usually a singing cowboy but now mis-cast in a sophisticated comedy.
All of which shows that it’s full to overflowing with affectionate nods and references to other classic films, not just from the 50s but both before and after. Roman epics like Ben Hur, Esther Williams, Busby Berkley musical numbers, Singin’ In The Rain, On The Town, Roy Rogers tinged with a touch of Audie Murphy ….. you get the picture.
And, for the icing on the cake, there’s the other big names surrounding them. Josh Brolin as the studio fixer trying to keep his stars under control, Tilda Swinton as twin gossip columnists (not exactly Hedda and Hopper but ……), Ralph Fiennes as a suave English director, Jonah Hill as a general factotum and Frances McDormand as a chain-smoking film editor. Casts don’t get much better than this.
The Coens and their cinematographer of choice, Roger Deakins, have gloriously re-created the Hollywood of the 50s, not only through the films within the film but also in the main plot. The panoramic long shots of the studio lot are perfect, as is the overall look of the film. But while it looks fabulous, it also prompts the thought that Hail, Caesar! is just like the industry it’s portraying: all about appearances but with little below the surface. Indeed, the plot teeters close to being silly, more like a daffy 30s comedy than one from the 50s. But, in truth, it’s of secondary importance. It’s the tribute to Golden Age Hollywood and the humour that comes first.
And there is plenty to laugh at. We’re no longer surprised at Ralph Fiennes’ comedy chops: nowadays, we just sit back, admire them and laugh. A lot. As smooth director Laurence Lorenz, he’s trying to make an elegant drawing-room comedy but is saddled with drawling Hobie Doyle (Ehrenreich) as his leading man. His repeated efforts to coach the actor to say one single line are brilliantly funny, not just verbally but physically as well, and make for one of the best scenes in the film. Not far behind it comes Josh Brolin’s Mannix, bringing together a rabbi, Catholic priest, Orthodox priest and Protestant padre to make sure that the references to God and Jesus in the fictional Hail, Caesar! won’t offend anybody, regardless of religious persuasion. The whole scene becomes a gleefully tangled mess.
That’s also where the satire comes in and also where works at its best. It’s less comfortable in the later stages of the film, which involve a Communist cell, populated by a group of eccentrics, an Einstein-lookalike and has one of Capitol Pictures’ biggest names at its helm. The humour is marginally off-target, the satire needs more edge and there’s the general feeling that the film has lost its way. Not that it lasts for long.
Hail, Caesar! is a film lovers’ film, particularly for those who love 50s Hollywood and know the movies from the period. It helps with getting the most out of it, but that doesn’t mean the film will have a limited audience. There’s enough comedy to appeal to everybody and that, coupled with the names of Joel and Ethan Coen, should mean its extensive distribution will pay off. It may just fall short of vintage Coens but, nonetheless, it’s a luscious and joyful piece of nostalgia.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Freda Cooper
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Originally published March 1, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
