Director Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Genre Comedy | Drama | Musical
Cast George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Tilda Swinton
Rating PG-13
Release February, 5th 2016
“A Hollywood fixer in the 1950s works to keep the studio’s stars in line.”
Joel and Ethan Coen, brothers who are 3 years apart, have developed quite the working relationship as a directing and writing duo over the years with 13 combined Oscar nominations. They tend to cast the same actors in their films, including Joel Coen’s wife Frances McDormand, who appeared in Raising Arizona, Fargo, Burn After Reading, and now the newest film for the two brothers Hail, Caesar!. Only actor Steve Buscemi has appeared in more Coen brothers films, having appeared in a total of 6 over the years.
The Coen brothers are notorious for taking audiences out of their comfort zone with their own personal style of filmmaking, with films ranging from brutally violent to quirky and goofy. They tend to mix it up. This approach is good and bad mainly because it is fairly unlikely that every film will appeal to the same audience. Each film includes one or multiple Coen brothers’ trademarks, whether it be centered around a botched crime of some sort, a focus on a specific but generally not so distant time period, or characters with stereotypes from the specific region the film takes place. Either way, it is clear the Coen brothers are involved.
The premise for Hail, Caesar! is quite creative and allows viewers an opportunity to get a peek behind the scenes of 1950's Hollywood and very much serves as homage to the era. The film industry has changed drastically over the years and it was fun to get a glimpse of how business was handled back then. Hail, Caesar! includes deeply engaging dialogue as well as crafty and seemingly unintentional humor. The film also has a deeper layer to it for those who care to look that far.
As to be expected considering the lofty Coen brothers standards, the acting in Hail, Caesar! is exceptional. The stellar cast includes Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, and Jonah Hill, amongst others. Brolin is in the lead role so he gets the vast majority of the screen time but I was a bit surprised by the limited roles for Johansson and Hill. Everyone delivered and the on screen chemistry was perfect.
Hail, Caesar! is yet another creative and uniquely crafted film to add to the Coen brothers directorial resume. Unfortunately, it didn't quite deliver the entertainment value some of their other films were able to offer and did have its slow points. Nonetheless, Hail, Caesar! is still one of the better films in theaters right now and deserves to be seen, especially for diehard fans of the Coen brothers.
