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| Directed and Written by Ethan and Joel Coen |
Alo Party Peoples.
The strange thing about Hail Caesar is how surprisingly unassuming and laid back it is. It has a wandering, improvised dialouge-heavy comic tone, most scenes feel less like scenes and more like a lavishly funded lampoon, and it's less interested in having overarching themes or character arcs than it is in providing an excuse for comic moments built around weird dialouge. But unlike certain other film makers that practice their craft solely to get a studio funded vacation for themselves and their friends, the Coen Brothers want the audience to have a good time as well, and for the most part they've succeeded, and even if Hail Caesar is an underwhelming film by their standard, for anyone else it would be a crowning achievement.
Hail Caesar is a day in the life of Josh Brolin as Eddie Mannix. It's 1950s Hollywood, and he's a fixer for Capitol Pictures. That day, implied to be no more bizarre than normal, involves arranging a publicity marriage for a pregnant starlet to preserve her family-friendly image, considering the prospect of a steady job with Lockheed over the chaotic world of show biz, fending off two competing gossip columnists (twins!) threatening to publish a scandal involving the studio's biggest star, and tracking down that star after he mysteriously goes missing just as their biggest production of the year "Hail Caesar: A Tale of the Christ" is set to finish shooting. That star, George Clooney as Baird Whitlock, has been kidnapped by a communist writers' union that demands a ransom of a hundred thousand dollars, and the clock is ticking because they're slowly indoctrinating him with a surface level understanding of their creed.
The entire film feels like everyone involved was doing it in between bigger projects, most of the top billed stars only have maybe one or two scenes total, and it feels like they spent less than a month on set, and most of their dialogue feels like it was made up on the spot; but they were months well spent, because every moment connects. Josh Brolin's "Wait, what? Are you serious?" reaction to virtually everything that happens is immediately relatable, Scarlet Johannson's sarcastic "I'm way too good to be here, everyone get out of my way." performance as the studio's sacred starlet is instantly compelling, Channing Tatum as a pretty face in a vaguely homoerotic big bombastic musical like a period version of Magic Mike is instantly hilarious, Jonah Hill's one scene as a mob accountant got big laughs out of the entire theater, newcomer Alden Ehrenreich as a Southern born cowboy heartthrob thrust into a classy period drama directed by Ralph Finnes is a hilarious moment and the two have great chemistry, and George Clooney as Baird is... essentially a caricature of George Clooney, but it's amazing.
Something this casual and seemingly effortless just shouldn't work, but the Coens' signature meticulous yet laid back direction ties it all together; it's less of a feature film and more of a collection of loosely inter-connected vignettes, like a collection of old shorts or a really good episode of Saturday Night Live, it takes its sweet time getting to its real gut busters, but once they land they land hard. Hail Caesar has some of the funniest moments I've seen in theaters in a long time...but the Coen Brothers are definitely an acquired taste. I can't imagine seeing the audiences that are genuinely excited for say, Zoolander 2 packing theaters to see a period comedy with a bunch of character actors riffing on the tail end of Golden Age Hollywood under the direction of the people that made Fargo, but this movie wasn't made with such audiences in mind.
Hail Caesar is a passion project in the purest sense of the term; a film made by people that really, really love movies for people that really, really love movies. It proudly displays it's starry eyed earnestness to the world and says "In spite of all the nonsense, I just really love the movies!" Perfectly encapsulated in the final words of the film, that the story has been "recorded in light everlasting", drawing a direct parallel between a spiritual experience and an incredible film. Hail, Casear! And All Hail Ethan and Joel!
Have a nice day,
Greg.B
FINAL RATING: 4/5
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