Self-amused pastiche

Rating: 3/10 (18 September 2017)

Production head at fictional Capitol Pictures in 1950s Hollywood is forced to pay ransom on the star of his latest Roman Sandals epic after the perplexed actor is drugged and abducted by a Communist organization; meanwhile, production continues on a sailor musical, a water ballet (with a pregnant, unmarried starlet) and a black-and-white romance featuring the studio's number-one cowboy star out of his element. Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, "Hail, Caesar!" gives off the impression of film school students running rampant with a huge bankroll. It's a well-produced, fast-paced comedy, but one that offers little more than select episodes reproduced from the movie-memories of two brothers who have watched a lot of TV, attended a lot of film retrospectives, who have the look and flip talk of the '50s classics down pat, but who possess such a dry sense of humor that they may be the only two laughing. Scarlett Johansson has a great bit in a mermaid's tail, Tilda Swinton is spot-on playing twin sister reporters who write competing entertainment columns, and Channing Tatum does a sweet Gene Kelly-like dance routine. Unfortunately, much of the "plot" concerns James Brolin and George Clooney, neither of whom finds their comic groove here. *1/2 from ****