"Would that it t'were so Simple." Hail, Caesar Review

Hail, Caesar
2/5 Stars

Written and Directed by: Joel and Ethan Coen

Rated: PG-13

Hollywood. 1950 AD. Capitol Pictures is shooting four new movies, and their most expensive epic to date, Hail, Caesar. The Biblical epic’s main star, Baird Whitlock (Clooney), has been kidnapped, and only one man has enough ransom money to save him, Eddie Mannix (Brolin) head executive of Capitol Pictures. He's going to have to save his new epic, keep his fellow comrades in line, and overcome all of the daily challenges of being a Hollywood executive.

I've been looking forward to this film all year. Because the Coen brothers wrote and directed one of my favorite movies, O' Brother where art Thou, a 1930's period piece, I was excited when I heard the Coen brothers were making a 1950's period piece . I'm happy to say my first impression of Hail, Caesar is it’s a stupendous movie that excels in many aspects. Unfortunately halfway through it became a decent movie by bogging itself down in these same aspects.

First off Hail, Caesar boast of having an extensive all star cast, featuring George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Scarlet Johansson, Channing Tatum, and Jonah Hill. The biggest problem with having so many big stars in one film is each of them only has one good scene. The next time they appear they’re practically cameos. The film also wants to follow as many of their stories as possible, and it loses sight of who its main protagonist is. Instead of picking a protagonist it adopts three of them.

Another aspect that was bogged down is the look and feel of this film. It is so jilted it removed me from my viewing experience. While the cinematography gives Hail, Caesar its own personality, after an hour of watching the same off-putting shots with the same orange hue in all of them I no longer suspended my disbelief. What’s more the cinematography used in the 1950’s movies is the same as the rest of the film, so none of the movies in Hail, Caesar look like 1950’s motion pictures. This takes the film away from being a period piece, and turns it into a caricature of what the Coen brothers wish the 1950’s looked like.

Even the screenplay suffers in Hail, Caesar. At the beginning of the film it hooks the audience in with the simple concept of illustrating the day in the life of a big Hollywood executive in the 1950’s. By the end of the film it’s following half a dozen characters and becomes a philosophical noir thriller, two romantic comedies, and a cold war spy film. On top of that, the ending feels disconnected from the rest of the story and it left a bad aftertaste in my mouth. I will probably never watch this film again.

Verdict: The Coen brother’s Hail, Caesar is a lack luster film that suffers from having too many characters, an overabundance of off-putting shots, a screenplay with an identity crisis, and a tacked on ending message that spoils the rest of the film.