Humorous send-up of cold-war Hollywood

Rating: 8/10 (4 December 2017)

This Coen Brothers' movie has a lot of detractors but I found it quite funny, as various stereotypes from the twilight of Hollywood's Golden Age deal with personal problems (usually involving 'vices'), production problems (trying to wrap a mega-budget "Sword and Sandal" epic) and the Communist scourge (including a dog named "Engels"). Interspersed are satires of the era's great flamboyant excesses (including an Ester Williams style water-ballet, a Gene Kelly style song and dance routine, and an over-the-top singing-cowboy Western). These 'films-within-film" are (IMO) the best part of "Hail, Caesar", although I found the thin 'plot' tying it all together to be entertaining as well. I would have thought that the film would be great fun for any movie buff, but judging by the IMDb reviews, my enthusiasm is far from universally shared. Worth starting anyway - you'll likely decide which camp you're in pretty quickly (but I recommend that you stay long enough for the 'Swinging Dinghy' musical number).