![]() ![]() ![]() To do that, the Coens and crew dipped into the vaults of Hollywood history, riffing on classic (and not-so-classic) screen performers and moments - and one real-live person (see accompanying story). (In a recent interview with Variety, cinematographer Roger Deakins explained that the movie was shot on film instead of digitally, and on an old studio back lot, in an effort to re-create the period.) The Coens labored painstakingly to make "Hail, Caesar!" look like they were making movies the way Hollywood used to make movies. When the studio's biggest star, played by George Clooney, is kidnapped, Mannix enlists some of the studio's biggest stars (Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Alden Ehrenreich) to help him get their co-worker back - and keep the story out of the gossip columns. Josh Brolin plays Eddie Mannix, the production boss and chief fixer at Capitol Pictures. Which also means: It's all downhill for the Dream Factory from there. It all adds up to a very disappointing film filled with many detours and dead ends.Turns out they do make 'em like that anymore.Įthan and Joel Coen's latest comedy, "Hail, Caesar!", is set in Hollywood in 1951, around the peak of the movies' Golden Age. Audiences however will probably find it flat and dry. Hail, Caesar! will probably appeal to die hard Coen brothers fans along with film buffs that hold interest in Hollywood’s golden age. Everything else feels dragged out and meandering. The subplot of a character actor cowboy trying to become a dramatic actor offers the most hilarity. The biggest standout here is Alden Ehrenreich as the endearing cowboy, Hobie Doyle. It starts off sophisticated, but the humor wears off. There is a comical scene involving Mannix getting the insights of various religious leaders about the crucifixion of Christ in the script. The absurdities take Mannix down an exhausting worm hole of communist screenwriters, tabloid reporters, Hollywood cover-ups, and a power structure he serves. The Coen’s use parody in some laughable dance numbers and set pieces, funniest one involves Channing Tatum as a Gene Kelly like A-lister who has an agenda of his own. ![]() While the satire and commentary is certainly there. He’s also being forced to cast a character actor cowboy ( Alden Ehrenreich) into a dramatic role, and he is heckled by two twin tabloid reporters who want answers about the disappearance of Baird, both played by Tilda Swinton. Mannix also has to deal with other talents including an A-list starlet ( Scarlett Johansson), who is pregnant out of wedlock. DeMille life sized epic titled Hail, Caesar! - A Tale of Christ has been kidnapped on set after being poisoned by an extra ( Wayne Knight). A Capital Studios executive Eddie Mannix ( Josh Brolin) has chaos to deal with once their biggest movie star Baird Whitlock ( George Clooney), star of a Cecil B. The films setting takes place during 1951 Hollywood. The end result feels slight and very uneven. For a film that uses a lot of vignettes and numerous characters doesn’t add up that much of a film. There are moments that are slightly comedic, however there are far too many scenes that go on for way too long. Using an all-star cast and another collaboration with the brilliant director of photographer Roger Deakins can’t anchor Hail, Caesar! into a successful comedy. It offers some sharp satire of 50s Hollywood, however it fails miserable in drawn out and unfunny stretches that don’t really go anywhere. Nowhere near as personal as their previous masterpiece Inside Llewyn Davis, or has successful or sophisticated as A Serous Man, and or as comedic as The Big Lebowski, the film is more on the level of the Coens lesser films like Burn After Reading, The Ladykillers, and Intolerable Cruelty. Hail, Caesar!, the latest comedic satire from Joel and Ethan Coen, is very disappointing. ![]()
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