Hail, Caesar!

The early 1950s were an interesting time in Hollywood. Movie attendance was down. Moviemaking was a risky proposition after an antitrust case split film studios and theater companies. Television was on the rise. Fear that the pictures were dying was palpable.

Hollywood responded in the only way it knew how: spectacle. Big-budget historical epics, lavish musicals, costume dramas and Esther Williams' synchronized swimming—all overflowing with extras—filled the theaters.

With Hail, Caesar!, the Coen brothers high-dive into the era.

From the opening scene, in which moviemaker Eddie Mannix (a gruff, mustachioed Josh Brolin) skips out of confessional to break up an unlicensed photo shoot, it's a quick 27-hour shitstorm through high drama.

Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), star of Hail, Caesar! The Tale of the Christ, gets abducted from the set, forcing Mannix to make a cowboy who can't act into his movie's star (Alden Ehrenreich). The moment that's done, he's confronted with the frustrated director (Ralph Fiennes) and two competing columnists eager for the scoop on Whitlock (Tilda Swinton in a double role as Thora and Thecily).

Finally, there's the small matter of DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johansson), the Capitol Pictures star—an Esther Williams stand-in—who's about to have a baby out of wedlock.

Twenty-seven hours.

Overstuffed trailers and a dismal February release date made Hail, Caesar! look like the Coens at their worst. Instead, it's a solid, lighthearted comedy that completely works.

Some characters are one-note, and a few conversations are overwhelmed with the Coens' love of a certain phrase or pronunciation, but the film doesn't suffer much. This period of Hollywood is full of joke fodder, but you can tell that even the riffing comes from a place of genuine affection.

The film's primary flaw is too much technology. Hail, Caesar! tries to re-create the saturated Technicolor hues and large-scale choreography of the era, but green screens can't give the same effect. When Moran swims through bubbles in a mermaid outfit, it looks like she just dived in from the uncanny valley. Channing Tatum and his company of sailors' dancing on tabletops is every bit as awesome as it sounds, but the 1950s' exemplary dance sequences were impressive because they used pure physical talent, maybe a visual trick here or there. It's hard not to cringe at CGI mermaid Scarlett when you've seen Million Dollar Mermaid (1952).

Quibbles aside, there's a lot to like. Hail, Caesar! manages to combine a zany caper, a communist plot, '50s studio politics and a touching story about one man's calling in life into one cohesive, lighthearted and quip-heavy comedy. It's a neat package like only the Coen brothers can tie up.

Critic's Grade: B+

GO: Hail, Caesar! is rated PG-13. It opens Friday at most Portland-area theaters.

Willamette Week