Baffling!

Rating: 5/10 (3 February 2016)

For every part of HAIL CAESAR that's attractive and entertaining, there's an equal part that will leave you baffled. Don't get me wrong, I'm speaking as a fan of the Coen Bros' brand of comedy ("O Brother Where Art Thou," "Intolerable Cruelty," "Burn After Reading") but I just don't think HAIL CAESAR's oddity would resonate with audiences.
Starring Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Channing Tatum, Hail, Caesar! follows a single day in the life of a studio fixer who is presented with plenty of problems to fix.
At times HAIL CAESAR can be a quite goofy, it's more or less a nod to the golden age of Hollywood, those old movies that would have the characters suddenly bust out in song and dancing, Channing Tatum gives a scene-stealing performance in this department with his little sailor number, it's definitely the scene that audiences would mostly talk about after the end credits roll.
George Clooney plays the biggest star in Hollywood who gets kidnapped by a group of writers that happen to carry a certain ideology of their own, so HAIL CAESAR somewhat also pokes fun at that whole communist witch-hunt back in the day even prior to Trumbo era. Josh Brolin plays a studio fixer that has a lot on his plate, juggling frustrated directors and arrogant stars and untalented actors, and now he has to also deal with this kidnapping. But if there's one thing that Coen Bros' comedies have in common is that without the lead character having to try too hard, everything seems to work itself out in the end.
Yes you'll laugh, there's no doubt you'll have a bit of fun watching HAIL CAESAR especially with the characters buying so much into their buffoonery because almost all of them think that they're all that, their ego is wildly amusing, and Josh Brolin's character, the studio fixer, is no different. Co-star Tilda Swinton is also another one that's going to crack you up even though her face is not on this film's poster. Great costumes and marvelous production design that take you back to the enchanting days of Fred Astaire and Ginger Ross. HAIL CAESAR also gives you pause to wonder if Hollywood, in many ways, is still as controlling as they were in the golden age. But I think what the Coen Bros' are trying to really convey, what they're really trying to satirize often gets lost in the film's attractive choreography. So yes, you will laugh, but you'll also be massively confused.