An Average Coen Brothers Affair,

Rating: 5/10 (4 February 2017)

Hail, Caesar is a mediocre movie with a mostly poorly developed plot, albeit a fantastic cast. The only thing that really holds it all together is the pure talent and charisma of the actors. Josh Brolin is suave in his performance, Clooney brings in laughs, playing yet another fool for the Coen brothers. Every cast member is complex enough in their performance that they exceed in both dramatic and comedic moments, which includes Ralph Fiennes, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton and Channing Tatum.
Its biggest weakness is its lack of a plot, it has one, very small story that does not consistently move forward, instead there is simply one sequence after another of films being made. Joel and Etan Coen clearly fell in love with the idea of recreating 1950s Hollywood that they forgot to tell a story that has a proper beginning, middle and end.
It is also not very funny. I find the Coen brothers very hit and miss with comedy, I favour them using it subtly in their dramas. Full sequences that were clearly made with the objective of making us laugh did nothing for me, it became tiresome for me after a certain period of time as a result of how often the humour bombed.
It is certainly a beautiful spectacle, even if there's not much more to it beyond that. Much more potential than it delivers, Hail Caesar is one you would be better off avoiding.
A detective who specialises in Hollywood stars investigates the disappearance of a well known actor.
Best Performance: Josh Brolin