If the 1950’s are the golden age of cinema what age are we in now? The superhero age? The sequel age? The CGI age? Maybe it’s simply the Clooney age.
Hail, Caesar is a film set in 1950’s Hollywood, during the golden age of cinema. Eddie Mannix is the head of the studio and has to get back his lead actor, Baird Whitlock, after he gets kidnapped. Mannix not only has to find Whitlock and get his latest blockbuster, Hail Caesar, back on track, he is called on all day to solve problems for the studio.
The film is a very interesting look at 1950’s cinema and it is written with the signature Coen Brothers charm. The real issue with this movie is that it plays more like a shotgun blast then a focused story. This movie has been called a love letter to old cinema, but the story becomes bogged down with side plots and unnecessary characters. The style and dialog are really enjoyable, I just felt at the end of the movie nothing really happened.
Overall, I had fun with the setting and some of the characters but the plot didn’t bring me into the movie enough for me to care how it ended. If you love movies, and are interested in 1950’s studio life this will be a fun watch, but if you are looking for another Coen Brothers classic Hail, Caesar missed the mark.
3/5 musical numbers