Hail, Caesar! [PG]

The shenanigans of 1950s Hollywood are never-ending. For studio ‘fixer’, Eddie Mannix, it’s a constant struggle between keeping an unmarried starlet’s pregnancy under wraps and tracking down a leading actor who’s been kidnapped by communists. Amidst all that excitement, he’s got a decision on a job offer to make, a snobbish director to sooth as a Western star bungles his way through a sophisticated period piece, and two nosy journalists to assuage with less juicy scoops than the ones he’s trying to keep covered. 

More than anything else, this Coen brothers’ comedy is an aesthetically glorious homage to cinema allowing us to transcend the borders of time and go back to the Golden Age of Hollywood. 

Whilst one can arguably take or leave the many stories that make up this movie, for me its power was in its incredible attention to detail in the production, set, hair, makeup, and costume designs as well as the variety of movies we get to see being made. It’s a total time warp and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. 

As I mentioned, my absolute favourite part of this movie was the aesthetic that it managed to so beautifully create. The 1950s Hollywood vibe was spot-on, namely coming through the types of movies that we get to see being made. Clooney, our kidnapped actor, is starring in a grand epic akin to Ben-Hur, we then have Scarlet Johansson starring in some sort of Busby Berkley mermaid production, and Channing Tatum does some classic channelling of Gene Kelly in a nautical themed musical, very Anchors Aweigh or (more so) On the Town. Everything from the costumes to the lighting in these scenes was done so incredibly well as to establish this wonderful feel of 1950’s Hollywood, I really did feel as though I was watching On the Town or Singin’ In the Rain and I have to say that I really, really appreciated that. The Coen’s exhibit a real appreciation, love, and understanding of cinema; how trends have changed, how it’s evolved, just everything about the aesthetic created in this movie was perfect because it was both thought provoking and a trip through time. Wonderful. 

As ever with Coen comedy, the humour creeps into the film through simple things like weirdness of circumstances and the surprise in contrasting senses. One great example of this is Scarlet Johansson’s character. She first appears as this beautiful happy blonde mermaid, instantly you’re primed to hear this sweet and tinkling voice come out of her. But when she finally does open her mouth, this incredibly harsh Jersey accents spews forth and it’s so unbecoming of the costume and makeup that it’s actually really funny. Clooney’s character is a little bit similar. On set, he’s this passionate and headstrong Roman, but when he’s off set amongst his communist kidnappers, he’s humorously gullible and easily swayed in terms of opinion. It’s the classic actor-that does-as-he’s-told story and it’s very funny to watch. 

Weird contrasts in costumes, personalities, and whatnot are what makes this movie as funny as it is: Clooney for example spends his time having all these deep and economical conversations dressed as a Roman, always with his sword sheathed and on his person. It’s little quirky things like that that give the movie sparkle. 

If there is anything negative to discuss, it’s that maybe it’s a bit hard to focus on anything because there are so many stories happening, which all seem to have the same amount of attention given them. Ultimately, this is about a guy dealing with a whole bunch of different things and it’s hard to fixate on one singular story as being the ‘main plot’ so that can be something of a damper if you don’t allow yourself to go with it. If you do, then there’s no problem with this movie really. 

Starring Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Scarlet Johansson, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Frances McDormand, Channing Tatum (showing off his status as triple threat), Jonah Hill, Veronica Osorio, Alison Pill, Max Baker, and Tilda Swinton, Hail, Caesar is a great homage to cinema in the ‘Golden Age’ as well as being a delightful mockery of it. Filled with economics, drama, comedy, and a musical number, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip it took me on.