Hail, Caesar!

Hail, Caesar! is written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It has an A-list cast composed of George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Ralph Fiennes, Scarlett Johansson,Tilda Swinton, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, and Frances McDormand.

Summary: The film takes place in Hollywood during the 1950's. Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is the head of property protection at Capitol Pictures; he essentially keeps the stars scandals from leaking and ensures a good reputation for the studio. Eddie goes to confession and reveals that he has been smoking even though he told his wife that he has quit. Later that night he goes to a house where a young actress is taking pictures in risqué outfits and escorts her home. The next day Eddie watches a rough cut of the film "Hail, Caesar!" and then goes to a meeting with a rabbi, Protestant and Catholic clergyman, and Eastern Orthodox clergyman to talk about the portrayal of Jesus Christ in the movie. A western movie star, Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich) is casted in the production of a Broadway adaptation of "Merrily We Dance". When he is unable to pull of a British accent because of his Southern drawl it causes the director, Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes), to complain to Eddie. During the filming of "Hail, Caesar!" it shows an extra pouring a powdered substance into the drink of the main actor, Baird Whitlock (George Clooney). Later the extras go to Baird's dressing room where he passes out and they take him to a house by the beach. Baird wakes up and finds himself amongst communist, Hollywood writers having a meeting. The communists send a letter to Eddie saying that in order to get Baird back he needs to send them $100,000. Meanwhile, Burt Gurney (Channing Tatum) is introduced and he sings and dances in a musical playing a sailor who will see "no dames" for 8 months while out at sea. As all of this is going on Eddie has to deal with DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johansson), an actress who is pregnant with the child of a married director. Eddie decides to have DeeAnna disappear for a while and then "adopt" her own chid. They go to find Joe Silverman (Jonah Hill), a guy who has been used previously as a scapegoat to his another stars scandal, and say he is going to be the "foster" parent of the child. Hobie is set up with actress Carlotta Valdez and takes her to the premier of his movie and then they go to eat where he sees Burt taking the suitcase of ransom money. Hobie follows Burt to the beach house and finds Baird sitting alone in the living room. Baird tries to convince Hobie to join the communist party but Hobie refuses. Meanwhile, the communists take Burt to the middle of the ocean where a Soviet submarine emerges and as he climbs up the ladder with the money a small dog from the boat jumps to him causing Burt to drop the money in the ocean; he climbs into the submarine and it submerges. Hobie and Baird are driving away just as the police make their way to the beach house. When Baird returns to the studio he plans to ruin the name of the head of the studio, this prompts Eddie to slap him numerous times and tells him to proceed with "Hail, Caesar!". Baird continues with the movie and is seen giving a monologue as Jesus is hanging on the cross. This monologue is powerfully given but the he forgets one of his lines. Eddie is informed that DeeAnna and Joe met for dinner the night before and then eloped. In the last scene Eddie goes to confession again and is told by a priest that he's not that bad since he comes by so often and that God wants everyone to do what is right.

Review: I liked this movie, however with that being said I have to say that it is not for everyone! It is very dialogue heavy and moves forward at a slow pace. If you aren't familiar with the real actors of the 1950's then there will definitely be a lack of appreciation for this film. This film reveals the way it once was in Hollywood and how the stars lives were micromanaged to ensure that they wouldn't ruin their reputation or that of the studios. This is a movie that I will only see once because although I enjoyed it it doesn't seem to be one for the books. It wasn't fast paced enough to want to sit and rematch it but I really did appreciate it for what it set out to achieve and that was to pay homage to the 1950s Hollywood that most people glamorize without knowing the truth behind.