A highly entertaining and sadly panned comedy from the Coen brothers

Rating: 8/10 (26 March 2016)

A Hollywood fixer in the 1950s tries to recover a leading star after a kidnapping. Of course, this is the Coen brothers so things won't be that straight-forward. Sadly, audiences seem to have responded really badly to this. The main reaction seems to have been what Ralph Fiennes and Alden Ehrenreich say repeatedly in one of the film's most hilarious scenes (And the scene which formed the basis for my favourite trailer of any 2016 film): "Would that it were so simple?". Hail, Caesar! is a complicated movie which goes in many unexpected directions and most of the actors featured prominently in the trailers only have cameos. Admittedly, HC is a somewhat incoherent movie and there are moments where the pace slackens. But it's still a genuinely good movie. The acting is excellent, the cinematography is very pleasing without being overly flashy and the script is full of clever humour and wonderful Hollywood homages. Like always with the Coen brothers it's never superficial and there's plenty of hidden depth beneath the surface here. It's a very enjoyable, light-hearted and fun movie which I enjoyed and everyone who I went to see it with enjoyed it as well. It may not be your sort of thing, but if you know what you're getting and if the film's admittedly self-indulgent nature doesn't bother you too much you're in for a fun time.
8/10