Where that it twas so simple

Rating: 5/10 (12 March 2016)

The Cohen Brothers new film Hail Caesar is a visually stunning recreation of 1950's movie studios and the films they made. This film is a good homage done in Cohen Brothers fashion... But something just didn't sit right with this one. It's a good film, there's just more that could have been done and I felt something was missing.
To start the acting was great. Josh Brolin and Alden Ehrenreich are great in the film. Everyone else don't really get much screen time excluding George Clooney of course. The rest of the acting was fine, nothing outstanding or terrible but then again there wasn't much screen time for some so its hard to judge.
I liked the political and religious elements of the film, with Capitalism vs Communism world and capitalist business the movie industry was at the time. The studio name was a nice touch to reinforce the political conflict.
The religious nature of Hail Caesar (movie within this movie) would lead to a rather interesting confrontation between different religions on how Jesus should be portrayed, this was good and was amusing especially when going off at a tangent, poking fun at the logic of movies which is always fun. I did however fail to see the purpose of Josh Brolin's confessions and religious opinion on the grand scheme of things, but it did reveal about his character quite nicely, presenting a rather likable person whose job has him worrying over 101 things at once, even a kidnapping. But the first thing he tells the father is that he smoked a cigarette when he promised his wife he'd quit.
My problem I think with this film was the events that unfold. The kidnap was almost forgotten about and didn't really conclude rather well. I would have preferred if the kidnap was given a bit more attention and doesn't end in the communists leaving George unguarded so he can simply leave. I know the film is about the many problems the studio head/ fixer has to deal with and the importance of image and keeping them up, but the film was advertised as a ransom kidnap film and was not really.
Overall Hail Caesar is an alright film. Alright by the Cohen Brothers Standards. Not their best or worst. But it was a good homage to 50's cinema with the Cohen's mark on it. The story and plot could have been tackled better or done differently but other than that its fine.