It is the 1950s and Edward Mannix is the Head of Physical Production for Capitol Studios.

Rating: Null/10 (26 July 2016)

My wife and I saw this on DVD from our public library. I actually saw it twice, on consecutive days, because I found it a bit difficult to focus on a particular theme, it seemed simply a bunch of unrelated vignettes.
However the second time I focused on the main character, Josh Brolin as Eddie Mannix, whose office door has the designation "Head of Physical Production." It is his job to keep everything together, running smoothly, trying to keep actors, directors, and gossip columnists happy. It is a humorous look at the studio system of movie-making in the 1950s.
Mannix is a genuine guy, in the opening scene we see him going to confession, it had only been 24 hours since his last confession. His big sin, smoking 2 or 3 cigarettes and telling his wife he had quit. But all the other characters are quite different from what they seem to be in their on- screen roles.
George Clooney is Baird Whitlock, the studio's biggest star, finishing up filming of the Roman epic "Hail, Caesar." But Whitlock is a misfit, a drunkard, and a womanizer. One day his wine on-set is drugged, he is kidnapped, and when he wakes up he is in the presence of a group of Hollywood Communists. Instead of being offended he is curious and quickly begins to see merit in their way of thinking. Mannix has to find Whitlock, they can't finish the movie without him and costs are escalating.
Alden Ehrenreich is Hobie Doyle, himself a star in the western genre, he can ride and rope but he had never actually acted with spoken lines. The studio pulls him to fill in another role where he has to dress and speak in a more formal setting but try as he might just wasn't a right fit.
Scarlett Johansson is DeeAnna Moran who stars in Esther Williams types of indoor water extravaganzas. But off the set she is a rough talker and finds herself pregnant. That would be bad publicity so Mannix has a great idea, why doesn't she just have the baby quietly and then adopt her own child?
Maybe the best performance is by Tilda Swinton in two parts, twin sisters Thora Thacker and Thessaly Thacker, competing gossip columnists. Then there is Channing Tatum as Burt Gurney, currently starring in a Gene Kelly type of US Navy movie where he sings and dances.
The writer-director's wife, Frances McDormand who is married to Joel Coen, has a brief part as film editor C.C. Calhoun, apparently for the one sight gag where she almost chokes when her scarf gets caught in the film editing machine while she is showing Mannix a film clip. He is able to rescue her by reversing the film machine.
The movie can be enjoyed as light entertainment in a throwback look at movie-making in the 1950s. However some have analyzed it as having much deeper themes. It isn't my favorite of the Coen brothers movies but in total it is very worthwhile.