If one word could define the vast work of the Coen Brothers, it would probably be anticlimactic.
Since their first film, 1984’s “Blood Simple,” Joel and Ethan Coen have a long, proud history of spectacular storytelling resulting in deeply unsatisfying ends.
“Hail, Caesar!” does not distance itself from this notion, rather, it revels in it. By and large, the story is just a slice of life for Josh Brolin’s (“Everest”) Eddie Mannix, who works as a “fixer” at fictional studio Capitol Pictures. The story reaches increasing levels of absurdity, but Brolin continues to confront each of them with the same attitude of detached coolness.
Brolin is the only character who really ties the narrative together, as the rest of this ludicrously star-studded cast pops in and out of their amusing subplots. All of the main Hollywood characters seem to be allusions to classical Hollywood figures: George Clooney (“Tomorrowland”) plays a thinly veiled caricature of Charlton Heston, Channing Tatum (“The Hateful Eight”), who has a surprisingly good singing voice, turns in his best Gene Kelly and Scarlett Johansson (“Avengers: Age of Ultron”) plays a version of ’40s firebrand Esther Williams.
In addition, Tilda Swinton (“A Bigger Splash”) plays twin gossip columnist sisters and Michael Gambon (“Paddington”) provides amusing bursts of narration throughout the movie. As the Coens pinball from subplot to subplot, these amusing bit players pop in to liven up the movie and keep the viewer engaged.
But it would be a shame to not mention Alden Ehrenreich (“Running Wild”) as the John Wayne-esque Hobie Doyle, who is by far the best performance and the best character. Ehrenreich’s “aw shucks” charm is one of the most endearing things in all of the Coen Brothers’ canon, which tends to value sarcasm and cynicism above all else. But instead of following in the footsteps of movies prior, like many of the superstars with whom he performs, Ehrenreich’s genuinely innocent demeanor brings a refreshing contrast to the parade of communists and religious iconography.
Yes, communists. Much of Clooney’s role consists of him absorbing communist ideology from a house full of disenfranchised Hollywood screenwriters and acting like a buffoonish Golden Age caricature. He does both magnificently, starkly different from the suave, collected gentlemen Clooney usually excels at portraying.
But ultimately, the only failing of the movie is that it tries to do too much for its runtime. The Scarlett Johansson plot, while entertaining, isn’t entirely necessary — you really wouldn’t lose too much. The way the film is structured means that the side plots can exist relatively independently of each other, which causes incoherence.
But despite the extraneous plots it still works. This is still the Coen Brothers, and they can do comedy like few else. In “Hail, Caesar!” their skewering of modern American interpretations of Christian dogma springs to mind. Early on in the movie, Mannix brings in a figure from each of the four biggest Christian factions in the United States (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Orthodox) to discuss the portrayal of Christ in their upcoming film. What follows is some of the best rapid-fire dialogue in recent memory as the priest, minister, rabbi and “padre” repeatedly insult and decry each other in an attempt to determine whose rules on the depiction of God is best. It is utterly hilarious.
Mercifully, the overloaded plot does not drag down the high quality of the brothers’ work. Not quite good enough to top “The Big Lebowski” or “No Country for Old Men,” but still exceptional.
