Not great but not awful.

Rating: 6/10 (8 March 2016)

Joel and Ethan Coen, have they don't it again?
No, I don't think so.
Going back to their earlier efforts Raising Arizona, Millers Crossing, Fargo and The Big Lebowski the brothers had an ability to create weird and interesting characters who carried the narrative as well as beguiling us with their idiosyncrasies. These films were like jumping on a roller-coaster and riding it through the loops,the twists and the turns. Hail Caesar is more like walking through side- show alley and stopping to look at the carnival freaks; each of them interesting on their own but non related to the last and the only thing they have in common is they're in the same circus.
The central character Eddie Mannix is an interesting guy. Played by Josh Brolin he has a fascinating job and you get the feeling he really loves films, the people and the industry. But wouldn't everyone love his job? He's not acting a role, writing a script, directing the talent or producing a picture? His job is to make sure all those elements work together and sort out the problems which could prevent the completion of the productions. This includes maintaining the pure reputations of the female stars, convincing directors they should continue with miscast actors and rescuing his biggest star from a group of communist writers. Just your average day for a god-fearing father of two in Los Angeles 1951.
Josh Brolin is the best thing in the film. He's supported by George Clooney in over-acting mode doing his best homage to 1950's Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster dressed as a Roman Centurion. His kidnapping is supposed to be the main story but it feels like an excuse for Brolin to move from studio to studio allowing us to witness an Esther Williams-esque aquatic piece with Scarlett Johannson in the starring role, a Sailor-themed dance number with the excellent Channing Tatum clearly inspired by the great Gene Kelly or a black & white socialite vehicle directed by Ralph Fiennes doing his best Noel Coward impersonation.
I left the cinema asking myself whether the Coens created Hail Caesar as a thank you to all the producers who helped make their pictures? These thankless yet well-rewarded individuals very rarely get the recognition they crave. Other than that I don't get the purpose of the film unless it's to poke fun at the black-banned writers of the McCarthy era or just so the Coen boys could create a swimming pool scene, a singing cowboy piece, a black & white high society drama, a sword & sandal epic or a dance number without going to the trouble of making five separate movies?
Hail Caesar is not a return to form for the Coens in fact it may not make their top ten but it is an interesting walk behind the scenes of the Hollywood studio system of the 1950's.