The Talent is All Here But It's a Rare Misfire

Rating: Null/10 (14 February 2016)

Hail, Caesar! (2016)
** (out of 4)
The Coen Brother's latest has Josh Brolin playing Eddie Mannix, a studio "fixer" who makes sure stars stay out of trouble and that reporters never report the bad stuff. His studio is making an epic religious movie but star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) is kidnapped by communist while country star Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich) tries to cross over into melodrama.
HAIL, CAESAR! is a movie I really, really wanted to love but it just doesn't work. The film is obviously a passion project because it gives the Joel and Ethan Coen a chance to play around with former studio films like the religious epic, the musical with sailors and you've even got a pinch of film noir. The movie is trying to pay homage to all of these older films and for the most part its heart is in the right place but there simply aren't many laughs.
Sometimes you just sit in a movie theater and get a vibe from the audience and I really think the crowd had the same reaction I did. It was fun seeing a spoof of the religious epics like BEN HUR and THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. It was fun seeing a musical like ON THE TOWN. The singing cowboy is even given a spotlight. All of this stuff is recreated with passion from the Coen's and the all-star cast is game but it's just not funny. After a while the film really begins to feel like it needed a re-write or two.
Brolin is certainly good in the role of the heavy pushing his way around to keep the studio going. Clooney is good in his role but he honestly isn't given much to do other than sit on his sword constantly. Ehrenreich and Ralph Fiennes have the best moments as the country star and his high esteem director. Scarlett Johansson plays the "bad" girl who can't keep up with her lovers. Tilda Swinton has a memorable double role and Frances McDormand shows up in one of the few funny highlights. Channing Tatum is also good in his role.
So, the stars were all here and the director's obviously had a passion for the material so what went wrong? I really don't know. This is just a rare misfire that had so much potential but it just never came together.