Not the Worst Coen Brothers Movie but No Where Near the Best

Rating: 7/10 (10 February 2016)

Full disclosure, I'm a huge fan of the Coen brothers and I'm probably going to give a recommendation to just about anything they make. This film is no exception. That being said, this movie is quite a bit different than I was expecting but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The Coens usually manage to surpass my expectations but this film didn't interest me quite as much as their other work. I still enjoyed it though and we'll get to some of the problems in just a moment. For now, let's take a look at the story.
Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is a fixer in 1950s Hollywood and his main job is basically taking care of all of the directors, actors, and actresses working for the studio. These include Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich), Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes), and DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johannson). Mannix is busy with everyone's problems but things get even worse when Baird Whitlock is kidnapped by communists demanding a ransom of 100,000 dollars. In addition to this craziness, Mannix is contemplating a move to a different career and starts to question his future.
Alright, this probably goes without saying but the cast for this film is topnotch. Brolin does a decent job as Mannix and I thought he carried the movie relatively well. Brolin has never been the kind of guy to emote a great deal but I still found myself smiling from ear to ear while he's trying to deal with all these different (and quite frankly, childish) problems. Clooney gives us a fantastic Whitlock and it makes me wish he would do more comedy. Whitlock is a great actor but he's dimwitted and doesn't seem to realize the situation he's in. Everyone gave pretty good performances but there are so many characters that it feels like none of them really get a whole lot of attention other than Mannix. Most of the characters did play a part in the overall story of the film (Scarlett Johannson wasn't one of them) but our time with them was so brief. For example, Channing Tatum plays a character named Burt Gurney. Gurney only shows up in about three or four scenes throughout the movie but his character still plays an important role in the overarching plot. I would say it felt like a waste if it wasn't for the very well done dancing scene involving Gurney and some other actors.
Everything looks pretty much exactly how you would imagine it would look. This is 1950s Hollywood after all. Lots of different film sets and the California countryside make it obvious where we are. It's straightforward but it gets the job done and it looks great. It's obvious that the main point of the story is to follow all of these wacky personalities and the different sets and locations just let us know what they're doing at the time. I did enjoy Ehrenreich's character stepping onto a fancy ballroom (it's not really a ballroom but I don't know what it's called) set for the first time and being obviously out of his element.
Honestly, I enjoyed the story and the characters quite a bit but the plot still feels a little loose. I enjoyed all the characters so I don't know who I would have gotten rid of but it's obvious that there were just too many people and not enough time for each one. Still, it's not perfect but the movie is enjoyable and the Coens' have a very particular sense of dry humor that I can't help but enjoy. I would recommend giving it a shot but just don't go in expecting the next Big Lebowski or anything like that.