Classic Screwball Coen Joint Certain to Divide Audiences

Rating: 8/10 (7 February 2016)

One thing is abundantly clear while walking out of Hail, Caesar!, the Coen Brothers' newest screwball comedy, it will divide audiences. Amid the throngs of people who walked away from the screen into the lobby, I couldn't help but notice many different factions all vying to make a point about the movie's quality. Some were upset at the assumed pointlessness of the entire ordeal while some were excited and even elated by what just transpired. Well at least no one left the theater quietly.
Hail, Caesar! is a anarchic comedy detailing a dizzying day in the life of Eddie Mannix (Brolin) the Head of Physical Production and resident "fixer" for Capitol Pictures. Beginning during a brooding Los Angeles evening, Eddie goes to confession before going about his business forming, making and protecting the studio's investments i.e. the stars. It's easier said than done however, unseen Studio Head Mr. Skank, wants B-Western Star Hobie Doyle (Ehrenreich) re- branded as a romantic leading man. Meanwhile musical star DeeAnna Moran (Johansson) is pregnant and refuses to marry the father which proves a problem for the studio's squeaky-clean image. Finally there's Capitol Picture's greatest marquee star Baird Whitlock (Clooney), an oaf with a history of Hollywood shenanigans who is ransomed by a cabal of disgruntled Communist writers.
These are the basic premises of the plot but just like most other Coen Brothers' movies, the setups are simply there to highlight the inanity, eccentricities and sincerity of the characters. The screwiness of said characters bring to mind the ensemble cast of Burn After Reading (2008) only the story has the quixotic ambling of The Big Lebowski (1998) and the amiable goofiness of Raising Arizona (1987). Josh Brolin has never done a better job, playing the gruff but likable Mannix. Even when he's tempted to jump ship and work for Lockheed his affection for his work, his co-workers and his family all seem genuine. His likability is rivaled only by Alden Ehrenreich's performance as an honest working man turned cornball tobacci-spitter. Beneath his fish-out-of-water boyishness lies a shrewdness that helps tie the film in a nice little semi-conclusion.
If one were to find a comparable Coen Brothers movie to Hail, Caesar! it wouldn't be any of the ones I just listed. I would argue Hail, Caesar! has the same religious undertones to A Serious Man (2009) as evidenced by the continuous religious iconography and symbolism. Mannix, much like Michael Stuhlbarg's character in A Serious Man is in the middle of an existential crisis and tries to find meaning in a never-ending escalation of problems. Difference is Mannix finds the answers he's looking for. He finds them not in the confessional, nor the easy route at Lockheed, nor in discussions of entertainment culture representing a new form of social control; he finds it at the movies.
There's a pivotal scene near the beginning of the film that feels like the beginning of an old joke. Mannix sits in a room with a priest, a minister, an Eastern Orthodox clergyman and a rabbi. He explains the prestige picture the studio is releasing (starring Whitlock), telling the story of Jesus through the eyes of a Roman centurion. They're asked if anything in the film is offensive to which they vehemently argue. They ultimately agree on only two things; 1. God is divine, 2. The movie is okay.
That pretty much sums up the Coen Brothers' view on movies which like Nationalism, Communism and yes even Religion can be used to inspire and/or control. Generally people ascribe themselves into various tribes based on common attributes or principles. We almost act like Russian nesting-dolls of identity many of us claiming to be for example; Americans first, Anglican second, Fall Out Boy fans third and so on. Mannix doesn't know if he should be a Capitalist first and a Hollyood man second ultimately deciding with repeated slaps to George Clooney's smug face. Showbiz is his tribe and he worships the stories they tell no matter how corny or over-broad or saccharine.
Your opinion of this film will largely be determined by how you rank movies within your own identity. For yours truly, Hail, Caesar! is further affirmation that the Coen Brothers simply cannot make a bad movie. Yet there are plenty of reasons not to like this movie if you're not a filmophile including the Coens' patented quirkiness (which there is a lot of). I suppose in this world, everyone's a critic.
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