HAIL, CAESAR : Saturday 12th March 2016.

'HAIL, CAESAR' which I saw over the weekend is the latest offering and the 17th film from those very talented Coen Brothers - Joel and Ethan bringing us a nostalgic Hollywood comedy with an all star cast. Directed, Produced, Written and Edited by the Coen's with lensman Roger Deakins on camera duty the film premiered in LA on 1st February and went on general US release on 5th February, and, has so far made US$47M off its US$22M budget. The idea for the film has been kicking around since 2004 and was intended to be a 1920's set comedy film surrounding a play about Ancient Rome where the focus was on the lead character to be played by George Clooney completing a trilogy of films that sandwiched 'Intolerable Cruelty' between 'O Brother, Where Art Thou' and this latest production. Come 2008 and there was still no script although the notion of the film still existed as a glint in the Coen's eyes. Fast forward to late 2013 and a script was being worked up, and by May 2014 it was confirmed that this would be there next Production but the era and the plot had shifted to what we now have.

'Hail, Caesar' melds a fictional story with a real life character, that being Joseph Edgar Allen John 'Eddie' Mannix (played here by Josh Brolin) who died in 1963 having worked throughout the golden era of Hollywood's studio system as a film producer, studio executive and 'fixer' to the stars of the time. As the film opens it is the early 50's and there is a voiceover narrative provided by Michael Gambon that sees Capitol Pictures Head of Production and 'fixer' to the stars Eddie Mannix being introduced to us as he takes confession - it is 5:00am in the morning and his day is about to start - it is 24 hours since his last confession - Mannix is a serial confessor!

As the film progresses we are introduced to various characters over the course of a single day - all of whom are busy at Capitol Pictures churning out movies as Hollywood did in the 50's to detract from the angst of the time caused by the Cold War, the Red Scare, Commies under the bed and the advent of television. These were often of big song & dance numbers, westerns, sword & sandal Roman epics and films the audience could immerse themselves in and 'escape' the realities of life for a few hours.

Here we have hapless Hollywood heart-throb and #1 leading man Baird Whitlock (George Clooney, channelling Kirk Douglas, Clark Gable and Chuck Heston) shooting that epic Roman swords and sandals movie from which this film takes its title. During a scene he is drugged and eventually abducted by a group of screenwriters with Communist tendencies who demand a ransom of $100,000. He wakes up in a lavish beach house and is taken in by his 'kidnappers' with tea and cucumber sandwiches and told that they are all Hollywood Writers wanting a slice of the action for their creative writing skills that underpin the movie industry but for which they gain no reward or recognition . . . but really they have an agenda of propagating Communism and the Russian Dream. Hapless Whitlock fails to see this initially and goes along with their 'study-group' cover-up but within a few hours succumbs to their politiccal and economic ideals. By mid-day Mannix receives a ransom note from 'The Future' demanding payment in exchange for the safe return of Whitlock who is now AWOL whilst 'Hail, Caesar' needs to wrap with the pivotal concluding scene to be shot.

Meanwhile, talented and handsome dancer, Burt Gurney (Channing Tatum channelling Gene Kelly) is shooting a naval themed song & dance musical on another sound stage, as is a gorgeous swimmer, DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johansson channelling Esther Williams) on another, filming an aquatic musical featuring synchronised swimming and mermaids a la Busby Berkeley. She is upset and distressed since her second marriage ended in tatters (and subsequently 'fixed' by Mannix) and she is now pregnant to an unknown father and this pending news could be very bad for her career - a husband is needed quickly! Then there is  a singing cowboy, Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich channelling Kirby Grant), who as one film ends is told that his image is being changed and he is to report to the Studio for his next walk on part later that day on the serious 'Merrily We Dance' being shot by renowned British Director, Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes) who has concerns over Hobie's acting capabilities after the first few takes go awry, and complains to Mannix about safeguarding the artistic integrity of his picture.

Meanwhile, there is Tilda Swinton playing identical twin reporters Thora and Thessaly Thacker who both work for conflicting entertainment publications as gossip columnists who believe they have an inside scoop on Baird Whitlock's disappearance earlier in the day, and a scandal surrounding one of his earlier films 'On Wings with Eagles'. Mannix persuades the feuding sisters to hold their columns for 24 hours by which time he'll have retrieved Whitlock having paid the ransom out of 'petty cash', and will have defused the situation turning attention to something else.

Mannix pays the ransom money later that afternoon and then speaks with Hobie about his part in the Laurentz Production, and then orders him to accompany Carlotta Valdez (Veronica Osorio channelling Carmen Miranda) to the premier of his latest film. Afterwards over a drink, he notices the briefcase used by Mannix to stash the $100,000 cash in is being carried off by Burt Gurney and follows him to the beach house where Whitlock is being held. It turns out that Gurney is defecting to the Russian side and has rowed off shore with the other Writers to rendezvous with a Russian submarine. Hobie makes off with Whitlock while the others are distracted in their row boat, just as a convoy of police cars descend on the beach house.

With Whitlock returned to Capitol Pictures he is confronted by Mannix who orders him in no uncertain terms to stop messing with ridiculous Communist ideologies and concentrate of the concluding scenes of 'Hail, Caesar' with a career defining performance, otherwise the world may just learn of the part he played in his own abduction. As the film draws to a close we find Mannix back where it all started - 27 hours later in the confessional box seeking divine guidance about an offer too good to refuse to head up the 'Lockheed Corporation', but will he accept?

The film also stars Jonah Hill as Joseph Silverman - a surety agent working for the Studio, Frances McDormand as film Editor C.C.Calhoun, Clancy Brown as Whitlock's Co-Star in 'Hail, Caesar' and Christopher Lambert and Dolph Lundgren in bit-parts.

'Hail, Caesar' is a nostalgic look back at the Studio System of movie making during Hollywood's golden era, and in that respect the film hits all the notes and has a lot of fun in doing so. This doesn't of course mean there is any historical accuracy in the film, but it is loosely based on the drama, the spectacle, the scandal, the angst, and the personalities of that era. The film is fun, moves along at a good pace and has plenty of distractions to maintain the interest. Clooney delivering yet another numbskull turn for the Coens does so with aplomb, Brolin shows restraint and control over the roadblocks seemingly thrown in his way day by day as Mannix is reinvented for this film compared to how he may have been in real life, and Fiennes is first rate as the stiff-upper lipped English aristocratic Director Laurentz, with more than a hint of Laurence Olivier here.

For all of that, the film in this Reviewers humble opinion, is not up there with the Coen's finer, more memorable works. With four films in one all surrounded by a day in the life of a Studio linchpin there is maybe too much going on around the edges that is not necessary to the plot (two lavish productions numbers in particular for Moran & Gurney) - time perhaps better spent on other areas that would have created more depth & meaning to the central characters or given us a little more back story. It's enjoyable enough, has high production values, some strong performances, visually is engaging but lacks that final ingredient to elevate it to truly memorable. 'Hail, Coen's' - perhaps not so much this time!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-