The Coen Brothers have always hovered in a limbo between the indie film circuit and the Hollywood mainstream. As such, their comedic take on the Hollywood lifestyle in the 1950s could not possibly have come from better writers or directors. Hail, Caesar! may not be their masterpiece, but it will go down as a memorable and likable addition to their ever-expanding library of work.
Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) works for Capitol Studios as a ‘fixer,’ someone who manages the studio’s image as well as their actors and scandals. He’s a tough man but has limits and is perhaps the most human character the Coen Brothers have ever written. He’s used to dealing with actresses getting pregnant and actors going on drinking binges, but he’s put to the test when the studio golden boy Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) is kidnapped in the middle of a major shoot. With the help of action star Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich), Mannix has to get Baird back while also settling flamboyant director Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes), finding a suitable husband for actress DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johansson), and dodging rival sibling journalists Thora and Thessaly Thacker (Tilda Swinton pulling double duty). I dare not ruin any more of the various twists and sharp turns of the story, although I will reveal the humorous cameos of Wayne Knight, Frances McDormand, and Max Baker.
The Coen Brothers have certainly made bad movies, but they have never failed to rip out a good performance from good actors and Hail, Caesar! is no exception. Josh Brolin sinks his teeth into a juicy steak of a role and makes himself completely at home in the fast-talking, fast walking world of the 1950s. George Clooney is more or less playing himself which makes every syllable and arched eyebrow believable. Alden Ehrenreich’s comic timing is perfect and he pulls off the wide-eyed, naïve actor well enough to keep his over the top southern accent from being distracting. Channing Tatum is lovably over the top as a song-and-dance man with a dark secret and Jonah Hill steals a scene as a monotonous fall man. Even the bit players and cameos look and feel sincere as their respective characters. It is said there are no small roles, only small actors, but the Coen Brothers can make sure each actor feels massive.
Overall, Hail, Caesar! has convinced me that the Coen Brothers have formally accepted the torch of comedy left vacant by Mel Brooks. Brooks used to say his movies “rose below vulgarity” and the Coen Brothers seem to, in the same way, rise below humor. Scenes like Mannix trying to counsel a room with a priest, a rabbi, a cleric, and an atheist sound like the opening to a classic bar joke, but serves a much higher purpose in the grand scheme of the movie. They work the camera and edit the film to make it reflect some of the styles and transitional techniques common in movies of the fifties, giving it an authentic edge that makes the stereotypes and issues presented all the more important. It’s a bout of entertainment that doesn’t pander to the common denominator or lower itself to be funny. It is a film that expects you to take it exactly as it is: a funny movie about how funny movies are. 5/5
