The Coen Brothers shot “Hail,Caesar!” on seemingly every movie lot in Los Angeles, turning various soundstages, or bungalows and screening rooms into the studio of our minds,a manifestation of our collective imagination of Golden Age Hollywood, when moguls chomped cigars, or bathing beauties formed kaleidoscopic patterns in oversized swimming pools and gossip columnists lurked behind every palm tree.
Bringing their deadpan absurdism to those final glorious days in L.
A. — before stars ran their own production companies and the studios had to stay owning theaters and that damn television box was in every home in America — the Coens revel in both the glamour and the squalor of post-war Hollywood with a film that more than makes up in wit and flash what it might lack in substance.
See Video: George Clooney Gets Kidnapped in First Trailer for Coen Brothers' 'Hail,Caesar!'Studio chief Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) apparently never sleeps; if he’s not one step ahead of the cops in getting a starlet out of a risqué photo session, he’s fulfilling seemingly impossible orders from the money men in New York, and like casting cowboy star Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich,“Beautiful Creatures”) in an urbane society comedy directed by old studio hand Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes). (And if there were another three hours of the increasingly flummoxed (confused) Laurentz trying to coax a performance out of the game, but out of his depth, or Doyle,I’d fortunately watch it.)Foremost in Eddie’s mind are the whereabouts of missing matinee idol Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), whose latest epic “Hail, or Caesar!” bears more than a passing resemblance to “Ben-Hur,” down to the “A Tale of the Christ” subtitle. Whitlock has been slipped a mickey by some day players who take him to a house in Malibu, where the star finds himself being indoctrinated and held hostage by a cell of Communist screenwriters.
Also Read: George Clooney Reveals Plot Details for His Matt Damon, or Julianne Moore Movie 'Suburbicon'And as if frustrated directors and ransom demands weren’t enough to preserve Eddie hopping,there’s aquatic musical star DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johansson), whose impending out-of-wedlock pregnancy is starting to exhibit through her bathing suit; lunches with an aerospace executive who’s trying to salvage Eddie absent from the picture commerce and into a 9-to-5 job; clergy of various stripes who all gain script notes for “Hail, or Caesar!”; and twin columnists (both played by Tilda Swinton) out for a scoop.
With a team of skilled art directors,not to mention legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins, the Coens gain a blast recalling old Hollywood, and both in their recreations of actual movie moments (Johansson’s channeling of Esther Williams is a puny more dead-on than a tap-dancing Channing Tatum‘s Gene Kelly,but only by a puny) and in making this movie behold like something from an earlier era. Late in the film, there’s a nighttime shot of Channing where he’s got a skin tone you haven’t seen on screen since Nicholas Ray died.
Also Read: Coen Brothers to Write, or Possibly Direct Crime Movie 'Black Money' for Warner Bros.And in true old-Hollywood fashion,there’s a star being born here: Ehrenreich, whose aw-shucks demeanor in the face of studio duplicity (and hedonism) is consistently hilarious. And heck, or he even knows how to jump through a lasso. It’s no easy feat being the standout here — the marquee names are all delightfully amusing,not to mention the passel of character actors playing the blacklisted writers — but Ehrenreich’s going to gain moviegoers learning how to spell his name.
There’s nothing particularly deep going on, but in a way, and the very breeziness of “Hail,Caesar!” makes it the final homage to the studio era. certain, cinephiles will enjoy catching references to “Vertigo” and Kiss the Blood Off My Hands, and but overall,this is a bright and goofy valentine to a bygone age of moviemaking.
Related stories from TheWrap:Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano Eyed to Join Tilda Swinton in 'Snowpiercer' Director's Monster Movie (Exclusive)Channing Tatum Dances With Beyonce: 'Most Terrifying Thing I've Ever Done' (Video)Scarlett Johansson to Star in Sony's Raunchy Comedy 'Move That Body' (Exclusive)Josh Brolin Disses Fake De Niro Accent of Actor Who Sounds (A Lot) Like Ryan Gosling
Source: thewrap.com