Hail, Caesar! Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

 Title: Hail, Caesar!
Year: 2016
Director: Coen Brothers
Country: US
Language: English

The Coen Brothers (Joel and Ethan Coen) have dived into Hollywood's past before. In 1991’s Barton Fink, they explored the black heart of the studio system in 1941, flinging John Turturro’s hapless scribe into a nightmare-ish inferno. With True Grit they remade a John Wayne classic, arguably making a greater version of the source material. Now they have made Hail, Caesar! It's a tale of faith, ideology and good ol' razzle dazzle. 

The film follows a day in the life of Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), a Hollywood fixer for Capitol Pictures in the 1950s, who cleans up and solves problems for big names and stars in the industry. When studio star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) disappears, Mannix has to deal with more than just the fix.

Mannix is a hardcore catholic; he wears a cross on his neck and feels the need to confess to a priest every 24 hours, sometimes sooner. It's quite strange that he only confesses about lying to his wife about his smoking habit, especially considering that his job involves "solving problems" aka keeping Stars' scandals away from the media. The Coens do a great job at showing how the capitalistic nature of Hollywood and the teachings of Christianity are often at odds. Ultimately Mannix has to decide what he has more faith in. 

The film is layered of course; along with drama there is a signifigant amount of comedy. Channing Tatum's Gene Kelly-esque homosexual number involving dancing with "sea" men is worth a great amount of laughs. I also enjoyed the scene in which Mannix solicits script comments from religious leaders of every faith and...they end up arguing about the nature of Christ. Communists make a few appearances too. 

With Hail, Caesar! The directors, their production designer (Jess Gonchoir), their cinematographer (Roger Deakins) and their costume designer (Mary Zophres) create a wonderful depiction of old Hollywood. It has all the glitz, glamour and dazzle while also keeping a dark undertone. Ultimately I had a great time in the theatre.