Hail, Caesar! (2016)

Directed by: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

Written by: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

Starring: Josh Brolin, George Clooney, & Alden Ehrenreich








Hail, Caesar! revolves around Brolin's character Eddie Mannix.  The story takes place in the 1950s and Mannix is trying to keep his job afloat and keep his stars inline while staying sane.  His biggest problem is Baird Whitlock (Clooney), who was just kidnapped by Communists.  Unlike Trumbo, communism is a small detail in the plot rather than implied in the trailer.  If you see it from a metaphorical standpoint, then technically Communism is the whole story, but I'll get to that in a moment.  Anyway, besides Clooney, other stars such as Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, and more also are in this film.

This film was interesting.  It had many small details that only one would understand if they knew how the studios worked during the 50s including the Hollywood blacklist.  The plot was a little all over the place and I was not prepared for it.  From looking at the trailer, I thought that the film would focus on finding Whitlock, but it had other small storylines within this one storyline.

Metaphorically speaking, the film was all about Communism and religion.  Mannix was in this constant struggle with himself on doing right from wrong, while what he did for a living is the struggle against Communism.  Clever Coen brothers, very clever.

It did have it's slow moments and all these mini storylines might have rubbed some the wrong way.  Let's just say, while in the theater myself and one other person were the only ones laughing, compared to the thirty people in the theater.  I do think people should see this film, but I don't think many will like it like I did.  So for being all over the place and the slow moments, this film gets 3 popcorns.