The Coen Brothers hit a new low

Rating: 1/10 (10 February 2017)

I won't bother with a plot summary for this film for the simple reason that it doesn't seem to have a plot. With that being said, let's crack on with the review.
Before I start, I would like to say that I am neither a Coen brothers' fan boy nor am I a staunch hater of the brothers. In fact, I've found my attitude mixed towards the brothers when it comes to their films, but it's safe to say that this is easily the worst film of theirs that I have seen thus far...
So what exactly is going on here? Are the Coen brothers poking fun at greedy film directors, producers and/or film makers? Are they also laughing at the fact that a big shot 'studio fixer' would go to pieces when a 'low-rent' alcoholic actor is kidnapped and held to ransom by a bunch of Communists? This sort of satire was covered in a similar vein (and just as badly) in Birdman 2 years ago and whilst I appreciate what the Coen brothers are trying to do here it can only be considered a monumental failure.
I think the problem with this film is that the Coens try to cram too much into the film which results in the film having no real focus; you have Clooney's character being kidnapped, a sub-plot about Scarlett Johansson's character being pregnant, a bad actor Hobie Doyle getting more recognition than he deserves. This all leads to a rather messy screenplay and sadly, in this case, it's a film with several stories, but with none of the stories being remotely interesting.
The best part of this film was actually the bit where all the sailors were singing and dancing, but to be fair even that section of the film was overdone and went on for too long.
In my book, this film is a technical success - It's well-edited, and the acting is excellent by everyone involved - the Coen's really couldn't have assembled a better cast. It's a shame that their writing is so weak, the film is unbelievably boring and even their dialogue (which is usually pretty good) is rather sub-standard and ultimately it is these things that really ruin the film.