Tuesday, February 23, 2016

HAIL, CAESAR!

HAIL, CAESAR! is the latest film from the Coen brothers, whose movies are either among my favorites (O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? and BURN AFTER READING) or among my least favorites (BARTON FINK, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN). HAIL, CAESAR! falls somewhere in between.

It's commendable just for taking on such a giant subject, Hollywood in the 1950s and the many layers of hypocrisy and duplicity that sustained it, a time when "the scandal sheets" were just beginning to expose all of it. There are a lot of amusing star turns (Channing Tatum as a gay amalgamation of movie dancing stars of the period, George Clooney as an aging established epic star opportunist, Scarlett Johansson as a take off on Esther Williams, the glamorous movie water-ballet star, etc.)...

If you're a movie history buff, I think you'll enjoy it. And if not, you might enjoy it as well. Just don't go into it expecting a Coen brothers masterpiece, but instead a small escape from our overflowing screen-stimuli-filled time.