Their new movie Hail, Caesar!, the 17th film in a nearly flawless canon of work, is sort of a conglomeration of everything they’ve done so far. All the aforementioned themes and views, all their trademark style and wit and pathos is present in this loving homage to 1950s Hollywood, affectionately presented in all its wacky, two-faced glory.
The story is about an executive at a stereotypical big movie studio, played by Josh Brolin. His name is Eddie Mannix and his job is essentially that of a fixer. He maintains studio credibility for reporters, keeps stars and directors happy and in line, arranges sneaky, back room transactions; anything to keep things running as smoothly as possible. His big project at the moment is a Ben-Hur style Biblical epic starring Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), a household name movie star who is kidnapped by Communists mere days before the end of shooting. Mannix is forced to gather ransom money lest the picture lose thousands of dollars from halting production.
He has to do this without anyone suspecting, especially nosy reporters Thora and Thessaly Parker (twin sisters both played by Tilda Swinton), all while continuing to run everyday business. There’s Western star Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich) who has been cast in a serious film directed by Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes), despite not having the theater-trained acting ability expected of him. There’s DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johansson), star of classy musicals, who becomes unexpectedly pregnant and must come up with a father quick. There’s the government man who wants to hire Mannix, and Mannix’s wife who wants him to quit smoking, and the priest who becomes frustrated with Mannix’s daily confessions and insists that he ‘isn’t that bad.” Would that it were so simple.
There’s a lot going on in Hail, Caesar! both on the surface and in-between the lines. Half the fun of watching it is deciphering what is really happening during moments like a roundtable discussion from major religious figures about the nature of God, or when the Communists very politely inform their hostage about the unfair treatment of screenwriters, or when the epic film’s editor nearly strangles herself when her scarf gets caught in the machine. There’s a lot of heady stuff that gets discussed, referenced, and lampooned, especially pertaining to the impending wartime politics that underline all the cheery shenanigans. Of course, double meaning is what the whole movie’s about, from an innuendo-laden, sailor-filled musical number to the fact that Mannix is the only character in the whole thing who actually values morality and doesn’t live a secret life.
All the philosophical elements are great, but the other half of the fun in watching Hail, Caesar! is, well, just how darn fun it is. It’s a very insistently bright and silly movie, and some of the biggest laughs are from the goofiest jokes. All the actors, including one or two scene cameos from Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, and Frances McDormand, are clearly having a blast. Surprisingly, the biggest scene-stealer is little-known child actor Alden Ehrenreich who is endearingly dopey as the cowboy turned important film star. My favorite bit was watching him and Ralph Fiennes bicker over proper enunciation.
Hail, Caesar! isn’t one of the Coens’ best movies, it’s too much of an inside joke to reach a mass audience, but it’s an absurd delight just the same. Even those who may not appreciate its various senses of humor (It gets pretty dark and occasionally irreverent, while remaining perpetually goofy) will, at the very least, not be bored. Arguments can be made for the movie both as a comedy masterpiece and as a flippant excess, but either way, at least it’s a new movie worth talking about.
B+
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