Slick Hollywood fixer Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is pressed into action when superstar actor Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) is kidnapped and held for ransom by a mysterious group. Mannix races to quietly collect the ransom money without gossip columnists Thessaly and Thora Thacker (Tilda Swinton in a dual role) catching wind of the scandal. Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Scarlett Johansson, Jonah Hill, Frances McDormand, and Channing Tatum co-star in this comedy set in Hollywood's golden age. Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. ~ Daniel Gelb, Rovi
Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Cast: George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Ralph Fiennes, Tilda
Swinton, Jonah Hill
Release Date: Feb
05, 2016
Rated PG-13 Some suggestive content and smoking.
Runtime: 1 hr. 40 min.
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Music/Performing Arts
Review:
Hail, Caesar is the Coen’s brother loving tribute to old Hollywood
with a healthy dose of laughter. Its
plot is almost an afterthought since the Coen’s seem more concerned with
recreating some of the golden eras favorite genres. It’s an enjoyable trek with enough laughs to
keep you entertained for the better part of its runtime. Josh Brolin is fine as the studio fixer who’s
just trying to keep all the proverbial plates spinning. He mostly serves as your guide through the
fictional studio so we have an excuse to wander through some wonderfully choreographed
sequences like Scarlett Johansson water based musical or Channing Tatum’s fun
Gene Kellyesque sailor sequence. Alden
Ehrenreich does impressive work as the cowboy star turned dramatic actor, it
helps that he shares a fantastic little sequence with an underused Ralph
Fiennes. It’s all light wacky fun which
is going to leave you smiling even if the film would have been better if it’d
been just a tad more focused.
B+
