Solid comedy despite a rocky narrative.

Rating: 6/10 (6 February 2016)

Hail, Caesar!' is the Coen Brothers latest comedy....satire....thing. These brothers have directed such masterpieces like, 'No Country For Old Men' and 'Fargo'. (I'll stop with these two because writing all their awesome movies out would take far to long.) With all their excellent films backing them up, it was pretty much impossible for me not to be pumped for this movie. Especially with a cast list like this, wow. And after seeing this film, my expectations have been met. Not exceeded but, simply, met. The best part of this movie is, for sure, the dialogue. The Coen Brothers have always been known for sharp, snappy banter that they can effortless form between characters. And they do a fine job of exactly that with 'Hail, Caesar!'. The conversations that form before our eyes don't just flow, they bounce. They move with just the right amount of energy to give these simple lines on a paper, some pep in their step. It's what they do best because they are the best at it.
Their lines can transform an eh actor into a good actor. Because they've already done half of the actors job. All to often in films today we have great actors trying to make an awful script sound okay. Not this movie. 'Hail, Caesar!' has great actors and great dialogue. But the reason that it's so good is because it builds on itself. Each character genuinely feels like they are talking to each other as people. Using back and forth to construct a natural conversation.
It sounds so simple but, for some odd reason, this has become all to rare in cinema today. And since the dialogue evolves in a natural way, the humor lands ninety percent of the time. Because it feels genuine. The humor in the movie never comes across limp or bored because it feels like the people in the movie actually mean it. Yes, I know we are only a month into 2016 right now but this will most likely stand as one of my favorite comedies of the year.
All this is well and good, but a movie would be nothing without a story. While, the story it has is certainly unique, it really isn't that good. Like, at all. Here I would normally point out one or two particular problems with the story but I can't. I can't because everything about the story is bad. The pacing is uneven, the twists make no sense, and (to top everything off) the movie runs for about thirty minutes too long.
Mainly thanks to A LOT of unnecessary fat. The film is obviously trying to be a clever satire of the film making business and it is, but it does way to much trying to be just that. It leaves in scenes that feel like they should've been saved and released with the DVD as deleted scenes. Each time one of these scenes crops up the films comes to an uncomfortable halt. Although, it's often difficult to notice these scenes because of how hilarious they end up being.
The Coen Brothers film knowledge and consistent entertainment continues to impress me. Yet, much like a few of their other works, 'Hail, Caesar!' suffers from an unfocused and, frankly, quite a bland story. It's poorly paced and sometimes extremely stale. That being said, this is a fun film. The cast seems to be enjoying themselves quite a bit, having been given a great script to work with. That helps to make this a pretty enjoyable ride although very flawed ride.