This film features a star studded cast and they all deliver beautifully in this fun filled parody of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Josh Brolin is at his best playing Eddie Mannix, the fast thinking, guilt ridden Producer at Capitol Pictures. He is part deal maker, part babysitter, and press agent for the studio. His work never ends yet he does it with ease and seemingly never panics. His scenes in the confessional are quite rich and funny.
George Clooney is the studio’s biggest star (Baird Whitlock) and he stereotypically is unpredictable and known as a major player with the ladies. He shows his range here once again, demonstrating his ability to handle comedy in great form.
Scarlett Johansson is terrific as a sharp tongued beauty portraying an Esther Williams-like aquatic star who is with child (out of wedlock of course). Mannix is tasked with finding a solution to this situation to preserve the studio’s pristine image. It is the 1950’s and things like this were actually scandalous! Go figure.
Channing Tatum is a standout and gets a chance to show off some singing and some hoofing. He shines. We often forget that so many of the people we see on the big screen are multitalented but we don’t often get to see them do their stuff. His big number in a musical surrounded by fellow sailors is a delight.
I saved the biggest surprise of the movie for last. His name is Alden Ehrenreich. It doesn’t just roll off your tongue but he is unforgettable in “Hail Caesar”. He is a cowboy star who can sing and rope and excel in all things Western. Unfortunately, a leading man is needed in a sophisticated picture and the big man in New York insists that Mannix cast young Hobie Doyle. Mannix reluctantly complies and poor Hobie shows up on Director Laurence Laurentz’s (Ralph Fiennes) set. Watching “Hopalong” Hobie take direction from seasoned Mr. Laurentz is more than a little fun.
The plot is justifiably zany and involves the kidnapping of Baird Whitlock by a group of disgruntled anti capitalists who feel wronged by the Hollywood establishment.
The Coens manage to walk the audience via Mannix through four movie genres on set to include a Western (wish we had more today), the aquatic spectacular, the living room sophisticated drama and the musical ala “South Pacific “. They are all wonderfully done and will send you back into the movie theater of the 50’s if but for a little while.
Jonah Hill and France’s McDormand (Joel Coen’s wife) have short but fun scenes as well.
“Hail Caesar” does not reach the heights of “The Big Lebowski” but it is a terrific piece of work by two of the best in the business. It is particularly entertaining when accomplished filmmakers can poke fun at the underbelly of their industry. It is obviously a business they love and what’s more fun than a bit of self deprecating humor. It’s good for the soul.
