A blonde bimbo of a film which looks good but has little substance

Rating: 5/10 (4 February 2019)

A good looking film; jam packed with some real celebrity A-listers, in a tongue in cheek look at a side of the classic Hollywood studio system in the 1950's. Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is a 'fixer' for a studio; his job is to keep the stars in-line, safe and happy. They are after all, the main commodity to making 'pictures'! His job is a tough one, but he's good at it, and while he complains, he does actually like it too. While simultaneously solving various issues the studios main star, Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) is kidnapped by communist's screenwriters from the set up Hail! Cesar - the years big budget blockbuster. Mannix has to sort this out along with the myriad of other problems around him.
Directed by the Coen brothers this is a film I really wanted to like, but it doesn't seem to have a clear destination or journey, it's a jumble of things all thrown up in the air. Sure it looked pretty, and had a top cast, but it lacked something that left me expecting a twist or an improvement every couple of minutes - and it just didn't come.
At best I can only give this a 5 because it was mildly entertaining to me as somebody who has studied the classic Hollywood studio system - but beyond that, it didn't entertain much and the plot was pretty weak.