Hail, Caesar!

Joel and Ethan Coen are among my favorite contemporary film makers, so when I heard that they had a new film out, Hail, Caesar! (2016) I didn't hesitate to make a rare visit to the theaters in Tokyo to see it. It is mostly a homage to the old Hollywood studio days with tributes to the films, personalities, the writers, the politics of the time (communism), the bigger than life bosses and the stars and their tawdry lives that were kept under wraps. The film is essentially seen through the eyes of studio chief Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), who is constantly putting out fires and making sure all of the films are being finished despite the many problems that emerge during the productions. One of the biggest is that his lead actor on his prestige biblical film, Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) is kidnapped by a group calling itself "The Future," causing headache for the completion of the film. There are several entertaining films with in the film that are homage to the factory  machine -like production of the big studio days: the singing cowboy action hero Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich), the Gene Kelly-like dancer Burt Gurney( Channing Tatum), the swimming beauty DeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johanasson),etc. There are great cameos throughout, and they employ regular cinematographer Roger Deakins. It was a real treat to see it on the big screen. Perhaps the message of the film was somewhat muddled, but that's OK-it works as pure entertainment for me. I am rarely disappointed by the Coens (although it does happen: The Ladykillers and Burn After Reading come to mind), and this was no exception.