Dull sketch show masquerading as a film

Rating: 4/10 (2 August 2016)

It's a bit of a myth that film critics and the average cinema-goer disagree almost every time on how good a film is. The scores on aggregate sites such as Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic demonstrates that there is a clear correlation between the ratings of film critics and those of the sites users in general. However Hail, Caesar! is one of the few films to have bucked the trend. While the Rotten Tomatoes' critics score hovers in the mid 80% range, the site's users have rated it below 50%. Here on IMDb, the average rating is a pretty average 6.4/10. I suspect with its in-jokes that it is a film which speaks to the avid cinephile, but leaves most feeling cold and a little bored.
Set in 1950s Hollywood, film studio executive and fixer Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) has the job of keeping the Hollywood stars out of controversy. However, once the news that Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) has disappeared, Mannix has to deal with his Communist kidnappers while ensuring that the tabloids don't get wind of what's going on. He also has to maintain good relations with unhappy director - played excellently by Ralph Fiennes - who becomes increasingly frustrated working with a talentless actor.
The latter character - an actor who cannot act - is played expertly and with nuisance by Alden Ehrenreich. The rest of the film never really comes together, with one getting the impression that the movie consists of a string of sketches rather than a coherent arc. There are a few laughs, the round-table discussion about the nature of the Trinity between Mannix, a priest and a rabbi a highlight. However, the handful of chuckles are not enough to overcome this dull affair.