The film revolves around a day in the life of Eddie Maddox (Josh Brolin), the resident fixer at one of the top Hollywood studios in the 1950's. Eddie's day takes a turn for the worse when the studio's top star, Baird Whitlock (played by Amal Clooney's husband, George) is kidnapped by a group of mild-mannered communists, who are also screenwriters. If that wasn't weird enough, along the way Maddox must deal with the demands of an uptight English director, a dim-witted western star, a demanding actress, and twin gossip columnists who wish to expose Whitlock for the womanising drunk that he really is. I think this leads in nicely to the first thing I loved about this film.
This movie is absolutely bonkers.
The first straight up comedy the brothers have done in a while, the plot of Hail Caesar is absolutely wild. Every character is so over-the-top that each that every single one of them have their moments to shine in this picture, regardless of how much screen-time they receive. The dialogue is so well-written, and demonstrates the Coen's timeless ability to "write stupidly" in the most intelligent way possible. From the same token, it is the film's underlying method in all this madness that makes this all work. While on paper "Burn After Reading" could be seen to share many similarities with Hail Caesar, the major difference is that Burn After Reading's plot was incohesive and pointless. Hail Caesar, on the other hand, is a story with stakes and problems and conflict to overcome. Burn After Reading was essentially a film about nothing, Hail Caesar has a central story binding all of the madness together. Hail Caesar, on top of being well-written, well-acted and well-shot, is a story with a strong central narrative, and that helps to make all the difference here.
However, Hail Caesar's main strength is how absolutely gorgeous it looks on the big-screen. The production design is fantastic, the filmmakers having created a multitude of large and beautiful set pieces for this film which may as well have been plucked right out of 1950's Hollywood as they look absolutely stunning. The film's costumes are also great, and with the vast spectrum of outfits needed for this production, that can't have been an easy feet. Credit has to go to costume designer Mary Zophres (who will also serve as costume designer on Damien Chazelle's "La La Land", a film which I am extremely excited about) for that. Yet, the film's greatest asset is legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins. A man who has worked on more classic films than I've had hot dinners, Deakins is clearly having fun with this latest effort. Each and every frame looks incredible, even more impressive considering how many classic cinematic styles he is required to imitate at different points during this production. All-in-all, Hail Caesar gets a massive thumbs up in all technical areas from me.
Yet, as with everything, the film does have its pitfalls. There are times when the film does veer from its central story for too long, which in turn affects how much the audience can truly invest in the plot unfolding onscreen. Also, without spoiling anything, the conclusion of the story involving the screenwriting communists also involves a small dog and a submarine. It's perhaps just a tad too odd. Most of the film is rooted in the grounds of some sort of warped reality, however near the film's end there is a moment where to ask the audience to suspend their disbelief would just be plain ridiculous and it is a shame that there wasn't a more satisfying ending to this particular strand of the plot. I also have to acknowledge that I went to see this movie with a friend who called it "one of the worst films he had seen in the past few years" and fell asleep for a good ten minutes stretch halfway through, once again demonstrating that The Coen Brothers are very much the marmite of modern cinema.
Overall, I enjoyed Hail Caesar very much. It was entertaining, goofy, witty and visually stunning all in equal measure. The acting was very strong (particularly from Josh Brolin who holds the film together as our straight talking fixer) and it is exceptionally well-written. On top of all this, Hail Caesar is hilarious in its best moments. There is a scene involving a Catholic Priest, a Jewish Rabbi, a Protestant Minister and an Orthodox Presbyter that is easily one of the funniest I have seen in a long time. However, I recognise that it will not be everyone's cup of tea and I would recommend going into this expecting oddball, goofy fun. That way, you will get more enjoyment out of it. All things considered, I'd call this comedy a job well done.
Score: 8.2/10
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