A Film Addict Reviews!

Let me start this off by saying that I am a fan of the Coen Brothers films. I love Big Lebowski, Fargo, and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Hail, Caesar! Just doesn’t quite hit that Coen Brothers mark for me though. Let me explain.

Hail, Caesar! takes you on a kidnapping mystery through 1940s era of Hollywood through the eyes of Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin). He tries to handle the production of countless films while trying to get back the main star, Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), that has been kidnapped by extras on set of Hail, Caesar! sent by the communist party.

The story itself was very well written, of course, as the Coen Brothers normally do. The dialogue was witty when it needed to be and serious when it needed to. A couple of scenes made me chuckle like the scene when Eddie Mannix is talking to the religious leaders to make sure it doesn’t offend anyone of any religion. The Rabbi makes the scene worth rewatching just cause of his annoyance with Christianity. It was the dialogue that made that scene work as well as it does and it’s a Coen Brothers trademark.

The way they make you feel like you are in the time period was pretty impressive. I felt like I was watching a movie filmed in that era as well with the way they made it. It was also interesting seeing all the little details thrown in of how the film industry works back in the day. Practical effects for everything! In the scene where Channing Tatum is jumping onto the Russian submarine, you can tell that they used a fake background with the clouds. It was all I could look at but it was fantastic regardless.

Now, back to the main plot of the film. The only thing I was not a fan of was how the side character, Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich), felt almost useless in the overall story and he’s the one who notices and saves Baird Whitlock. It’s just strange to be with Eddie Mannix for the majority of the story and cut to Hobie Doyle here and there for his little side plot of going from a western star to becoming a drama actor. Eddie Mannix is the one who got together the ransom money and yet he’s not the one who succeeds at getting Baird back. Just feels like it came out of no where.

Besides that one issue of the film, I actually did enjoy it. Coen Brothers has a tendency to be dark funny and it was funny enough to keep you interested and the story does the same thing. It’s a ride that everyone can enjoy that isn’t as bombastic as the likes of Big Lebowski or Fargo but it works in its own way. I would recommend anyone who reads this to watch it at least once cause it’s worth it.