Hail, Caesar!

Rating: 7/10 (10 March 2016)

When I first saw the trailer for this movie I thought it looked like exactly the sort of film that would be made as "Oscar bait", and it definitely was one I wanted to see, directed by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen (Raising Arizona, Fargo, No Country for Old Men, True Grit). Basically set in the 1950s, Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is head of production at Capitol Pictures, and also a "fixer", keeping scandalous the behaviour of stars out of the press, the story follows a day in his life. Unmarried synchronised swimming actress DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johansson) becomes pregnant, so Mannix arranges the baby to be put in foster care and then adopt it without revealing herself as the mother, Mannix also has to fend off identical twin sister rival gossip columnists Thora and Thessaly Thacker (Tilda Swinton). The studio's major production is Hail, Caesar!, an epic set in ancient Rome, but filming is halted when its leading star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) is drugged by a Lurking Extra (Wayne Knight), he passes out and is abducted from the sound stage, he wakes in a beach house and meets "The Future", a Communist group, made up of mostly writers, they explain their cause and win him over Whitlock. Mannix receives a ransom demand from "The Future", demanding $100,000, he arranges to get the money from the Accounting Department, Thora Thacker meanwhile threatens Mannix to release an article about a scandal involving earlier film On Wings With Eagles, he negotiates for her to postpone the story in exchange for information about the romantic lives of several actors. Meanwhile the studio want to broaden the appeal of singing Western film star Hobie Doyle (Blue Jasmine's Alden Ehrenreich), so he is cast in the latest period drama helmed by posh British director Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes), but Laurentz complains to Mannix that Doyle is hopelessly inept, but Mannix tells Laurentz Doyle's role is non-negotiable and he should coach Doyle to give a better performance, Doyle himself admits to Mannix he feels the part is outside his comfort zone, but Mannix reassures him. That evening Doyle follows instructions to attend the premiere of one his Westerns, with starlet Carlotta Valdez (Veronica Osorio), he is initially disappointed his singing is seen as comedic rather than heartfelt as he intended, but he warms to it as the audience react positively. Following the premiere Doyle and Valdez visit a nightclub and continue a genuinely developing chemistry, before being interrupted by both Thacker sisters looking for a scoop on their relationship. Burt Gurney (Channing Tatum) is the star of a sailor comedy musical film, seen filming earlier with an elaborate song and dance number called "No Dames", Doyle spots him picking up a briefcase, it contains the ransom money, Doyle recognises it and follows Gurney to the beach house in Malibu. Doyle finds only Whitlock inside, "The Future" members have rowed away in a boat, with Gurney, so he can rendezvous with a Soviet submarine and move to Russia, Gurney boards and is given the money, but his dog jumping into his arms causes him to drop the briefcase into the ocean, it sinks. Doyle takes Whitlock back to the studio, while the police arrive at the beach house to arrest the group, Whitlock tries to explain his Communist leanings to Mannix, he cuts him off sharply and slaps his face numerous times, ordering him to finish Hail, Caesar! Thora then meets Manniz and explains her article about On Wings With Eagles will reveal that Whitlock got the role in the film by having sex with Laurentz, her information comes from Gurney, but Mannix persuades her that he is a Communist and she will ruin her reputation. In the end DeeAnna marries surety agent Joseph Silverman (Jonah Hill), who had agreed to take her child into foster care, and Mannix decides to reject the offer from The Lockheed Corporation of a high-level executive position, and continue working at Capitol. Also starring Frances McDormand as film editor C. C. Calhoun, Alison Pill as Mrs. Mannix, This Is the End's David Krumholtz as Communist Writer, Short Circuit's Fisher Stevens as Communist Writer, Highlander's Christopher Lambert as Scandinavian filmmaker Arne Seslum (most likely the father of DeeAnna's child), John Bluthal as Professor Marcuse and Star Trek: Voyager's Robert Picardo as Rabbi, and narrated by Sir Michael Gambon. Eddie Mannix was a real- life "fixer", Brolin plays him well, Clooney is good as the slow- witted good looking actor, Fiennes and Swinton do well in their supporting roles, Johansson gets a good water-based dance routine, and the highlight of the film is Tatum as the homoerotic star in a sailor suit in a flawless bar dance routine. Critics said this film was good fun, but perhaps there isn't much of a story or gripping plot to go with, I agree a little with that, but it doesn't matter, the brightly coloured costumes and scenery is fantastic, most of the slapstick and jokes work, and you really get drawn into the feel of the period, it is definitely a knowing film about what Hollywood would like you to think it is like, a watchable comedy. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Production Design, and it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Production Design. Very good!