In Hail, Caesar many of the Coen Brother’s career-long obsessions are on full display. A long lost era, a kidnap ransom and the lunacy of religion (among many others) are all repeated with the obsession of the faithful. While familiar ground is tread by the Brothers, their tropes are welcome ritual. Hail, Caesar is worth devout observance.
The boys sure do love to operate in another period. Hail, Caesar marks their 11th film to take place in past. Miller’s Crossing, Inside Llewyn Davis or The Hudsucker Proxy all display a reverence for the way things were. Hell, even The Big Lebowski takes place in the early 90’s even though the film was released in 1998. They are filmmakers out of sync with the present. They have very little connection with 2016, albeit in a glorious way that allows the audience to travel to a fantasy world of their own creation.
Caesar is a celebration of the old studio system that would see its demise in the late 60’s. That demise is in the far, unfocused future as our story takes place in the early 50’s. The System is still hummin’. The film belongs to Josh Brolin as Eddie Mannix, a Hollywood “fixer” that runs Capitol Pictures. While he must spend time in the editing bays and screening rooms, a great portion of his time is spent wrangling his movie stars, saving them from the embarrassment of homosexual philandering, pregnancy out of wedlock or naughty French Postcard photos.
When the star of his in-production Jesus picture is abducted, chaos ensues as the story spins off into many different facets of funny. The all-star cast all seem to relish their work with the Brothers and we are blessed with just swell performances from Brolin, George Clooney, Ralph Fiennes and Scarlett Johansson to name but a few. Channing Tatum has a wonderful dance sequence that is a perfect fit for the era. Many of these supporting roles are glorified cameos with Brolin in the eye of the storm.
The most interesting element to the film is the way the Coen’s navigate through the false world of the studio films. All façade and overly elocuted speech on display in the films within the film while the “actual” story of Mannix is also presented in a distinct style that mirrors the time. Smart, meta filmmaking you expect from the Coen Brothers.
C-stance Grade:
