Film Review: Hail, Caesar!

Hail, Caesar! has arrived just in the nick of time. As Hollywood’s repeated missteps and offences threaten to wear us all down to exhausted, cynical stumps, the Coen brothers’ lavish, sly, teasing but deeply affectionate 1950s Hollywood romp is gorgeously crafted, lovingly critical and irrepressibly fun.

Josh Brolin plays a fictionalised version of Eddie Mannix, a Hollywood “fixer” whose job back in the day was to keep scandals under wraps and stars under control. Eddie’s intriguing pull between being damn good at a dirty job and his desire to be an honest person is placed at the centre of this frantic, frenzied farce.

When dim-witted movie icon Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) is kidnapped from the set of the Roman epic ‘Hail, Caesar!’, one of the many movies-within-the-movie, Mannix is pushed on a path of absurdist misadventures to try rescue him – a fact slightly complicated by the fact that Baird hasn’t even realised he’s been taken. But that’s not the only disaster on Mannix’s plate – he’s also trying to manage the unwanted pregnancy of his screen siren, DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johansson, sensationally brassy), and the sibling rivalry between two gossip columnists – both played by Tilda Swinton. (Yes, twice the Tilda is twice the sheer perfection.)

The cast are electrifying (with particularly great turns from Channing Tatum and the scene-stealing Alden Ehrenreich), and the chemistry and explosive sense of fun bounce off the screen, which itself is crammed with gorgeous visual and character detail. From the lavish sets to Communist writers, the machinations of fame-hungry extras to the threat of nuclear war, the Coens’ vision is razor sharp. Highlighting the razzle-dazzle and ridiculousness of the industry, while allowing Brolin to capture the philosophical crises that accompany lives built on facsimiles (however fabulous), Hail Caesar! lifts the curtain on Hollywood in magnificent style.

4/5

106mins. In cinemas now