The Coen Brothers' arsenic filled valentine to old Hollywood

Rating: 8/10 (7 February 2016)

HAIL, CAESAR! (2016) *** Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Veronica Osorio, Heather Goldenhersh, Alison Pill, Max Baker, Fisher Stevens, David Krumholtz, Robert Picardo, Christopher Lambert, Wayne Knight. The Coen Brothers' arsenic filled valentine to old Hollywood with Brolin as a hard-boiled studio exec/'fixer' who has his hands full when dim-witted movie star Clooney is kidnapped by a gaggle of Communist screenwriters as well as Johansson's Esther Williams manqué starlet with a bun in the oven and scene-stealer Eherenreich (a hoot) as a folksy Will Rogers type Western star crossing over reluctantly into being a real actor. Funny, sharp and a bit full of itself but again that's expected but could've been a tad more substantial in spite of its powerhouse cast having a field day.