Hiding the Cracks in the Dream Machine
“Hail, Caesar!” takes place in a bygone era partly based in reality, party based in the vivid imaginations of Joel and Ethan Coen. Set in 1950s Hollywood, the film takes us on a colorful tour of the fictional Capitol Studios. Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is a “fixer” for the company, an executive whose job involves covering up the transgressions of its stars, fending off gossip columnists, putting a positive spin on stories before the term “spin” existed, and making sure the movies are turned out on budget and with a minimum of hiccups.<br /><br />We see several movies in production. One of them is a Biblical epic called “Hail, Caesar!, A Tale of the Christ,” starring the studio’s most valuable leading man, Baird Whitlock (George Clooney). An amalgam of “Ben-Hur,” “The Robe,” and “Quo Vadis,” “Hail, Caesar!” is the studio’s most expensive production of the year and a hoped-for huge moneymaker.<br /><br />Another in the studio’s stable, the Esther Williams-inspired star of synchronized water ballet musicals DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johansson), is pregnant but not married. This would be taboo for any woman of the era, and certainly won’t do for DeeAnna’s girl-next-door image.<br /><br />Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich) is the studio’s singing cowboy hero, known for trick riding, roping varmints, square shooting, and a gentle way with a tune. A drawing room drama is underway, and the studio head demands that the director, Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes), cast Doyle as the romantic lead. Though the match-up is akin to Oliver Hardy starring in “Hamlet,” Laurentz must forge ahead, his patience dwindling with every twang emanating from Hobie’s mouth.<br /><br />On yet another stage, an elaborate musical number starring song-and-dance man Burt Gurney (Channing Tatum) is being shot for a movie titled “No Dames.” The number, in which sailors bemoan the fact that they’re headed out to sea with no females in the picture for months, is a highlight of the film. Tatum dances up a storm, combining athletics, soft shoe, and tap. With the innocent, enthusiastic look of a young Gene Kelly, he leads a growing chorus of sailors in a routine that soon comes to look like a celebration of gay liberation.<br /><br />Tossed into this swirling mix is a kidnapping plot that gives Clooney some wonderful opportunities to create comic reactions and skewer his own superstar image.<br /><br />Tilda Swinton plays the dual role of twin sister gossip columnists Thora and Thessaly Thacker, complete with assertive, Hedda Hopper-style hats.  Frances McDormand is a film editor working in a small, darkened room to shape the final cut of the studio’s pictures while chain-smoking and not being terribly careful about a lengthy scarf. Jonah Hill, in a very brief role, portrays the studio’s “go to” guy who can furnish important documents and rectify sticky situations quickly.<br /><br />One of the best-written scenes is a meeting between Mannix and several clergymen. Mannix wants to elicit the opinion of religious leaders about how Christ is portrayed in “Hail, Caesar!” The discussion leads to an over-sharing of their personal agendas as Mannix patiently listens and attempts to keep the meeting on track.<br /><br />Brolin’s Mannix is the central character, and is essentially the grown-up among pampered, highly-paid performers. He’s on call night and day and is expected to keep embarrassing information about Capitol’s stars out of the papers. Unlike many of the people he has to protect, Mannix is a family man who feels guilty about having to spend so much time away from his wife and kids. He is contemplating a job offer that will require a lot less stress and better hours.<br /><br />There was an actual Eddie Mannix who was an executive at M-G-M during its heyday. Like the fictional Mannix of the film, he was a “fixer,” paid to cover up details of the stars’ private lives to maintain their public image.<br /><br />There is a lot to admire in “Hail, Caesar!” and movie fans, in particular, will enjoy the references and satirical pokes at establishment movie making in the studio era. The kidnapping subplot, however, never gathers adequate steam, and a communist conspiracy story thread seems out of place and perhaps one too many elements to satirize.<br /><br />Rated PG-13, the movie is the darker side of Hollywood glamor in its heyday. The Coens show us, in highly entertaining fashion, the excesses of movie stars and the constant covert machinations to sustain their image as moral, upstanding citizens.<br /><br />Bonus extras on the 2-disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack include four behind-the-scenes featurettes. A digital HD copy is enclosed.
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 {"Aspect Ratio": "1.85:1", "Is Discontinued By Manufacturer": "No", "MPAA rating": "PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned)", "Product Dimensions": "7 x 5 x 0.5 inches; 3.2 Ounces", "Item model number": "61168999", "Media Format": "Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen, Digital_copy", "Run time": "1 hour and 46 minutes", "Release date": "June 7, 2016", "Actors": "Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill", "Subtitles": "French, Spanish", "Language": "English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1), French (DTS 5.1), Spanish (DTS 5.1)", "Studio": "Universal Pictures Home Entertainment", "Number of discs": "2"}

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