Hail, Caesar!
19/03/16 Filed in: Cinema
On Wednesday we saw Hail Caesar. It was my choice, as I hoped it would be as good as Oh Brother Where Art Thou, an earlier Cohen Brothers film, also with George Clooney, which I really enjoyed.
Set in 1950s Hollywood, Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is Capitol Picture's studio 'fixer', sorting out a range of problems that the stars manage to get themselves into. The studio's biggest production is Hail Caesar, starring Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) but skullduggery is afoot as a couple of extras drug and kidnap Whitlock, whisking him off to 'The Future'. The 'Future' in question is a group of communists intent on reshaping the future by taking on capitalism, starting with Capitol Pictures.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the studios Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes) is making the drama Merrily We Dance, and is given a new lead actor in the shape of Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich), straight from the set of a cowboy film, the singing cowboy role being his only claim to fame thus far. I was greatly impressed by his gun-spinning and horse riding skills, but unfortunately they didn't transfer very well to the set of Laurentz's drama. Watch out for Doyle's struggle pronouncing Laurentz's name, not helped by the similarity between his first and second names.
Scarlett Johansson pops up as DeeAnna Moran, an Esther Williams type character, who looks a lot more elegant than she sounds. And we have Channing Tatum performing a classic Hollywood song and dance number as Burt Gurney, who turns out to be not all that he seems.
Set in 1950s Hollywood, Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is Capitol Picture's studio 'fixer', sorting out a range of problems that the stars manage to get themselves into. The studio's biggest production is Hail Caesar, starring Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) but skullduggery is afoot as a couple of extras drug and kidnap Whitlock, whisking him off to 'The Future'. The 'Future' in question is a group of communists intent on reshaping the future by taking on capitalism, starting with Capitol Pictures.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the studios Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes) is making the drama Merrily We Dance, and is given a new lead actor in the shape of Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich), straight from the set of a cowboy film, the singing cowboy role being his only claim to fame thus far. I was greatly impressed by his gun-spinning and horse riding skills, but unfortunately they didn't transfer very well to the set of Laurentz's drama. Watch out for Doyle's struggle pronouncing Laurentz's name, not helped by the similarity between his first and second names.
Scarlett Johansson pops up as DeeAnna Moran, an Esther Williams type character, who looks a lot more elegant than she sounds. And we have Channing Tatum performing a classic Hollywood song and dance number as Burt Gurney, who turns out to be not all that he seems.
While trying to deal with the crisis caused by Whitlock's disappearance, Eddie is anguishing over a 'too good to miss' job offer from Lockheed, while fielding threats from the two Thacker sisters, both journalists, and both played by Tilda Swinton. Meanwhile Whitlock is very comfortable indeed with his Marxist kidnappers, and in fact is rapidly becoming a convert.
A ransom is paid for Whitlock and it falls to Hobie Doyle to unravel the kidnap plot, by first finding and then convincing a now reluctant Whitlock to return to the studio, where he delivers a stirring monologue during the filming of the crucifixion scene in Hail Caesar, before, that is, he forgets his final line.
The foregoing is only a snapshot of the frenetic goings on in this film. Multiple plots and lots of humour but, for me, not quite as good as Oh Brother Where Art Thou, which seemed to have a much tighter story line. Interestingly the critics' reviews have been good, but the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is only 42%. Perhaps I'm not alone in being slightly disappointed.
A ransom is paid for Whitlock and it falls to Hobie Doyle to unravel the kidnap plot, by first finding and then convincing a now reluctant Whitlock to return to the studio, where he delivers a stirring monologue during the filming of the crucifixion scene in Hail Caesar, before, that is, he forgets his final line.
The foregoing is only a snapshot of the frenetic goings on in this film. Multiple plots and lots of humour but, for me, not quite as good as Oh Brother Where Art Thou, which seemed to have a much tighter story line. Interestingly the critics' reviews have been good, but the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is only 42%. Perhaps I'm not alone in being slightly disappointed.