Movie Review: Hail, Caesar!

George Clooney portrays Baird Whitlock in Hail, Caesar! a new comedy from filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen.

I divide the world into two groups: those people who love Coen Brothers films, and those who remain oblivious to their charms, or those who instead regard Paul Blart: Mall Cop as the height of modern cinematic humour.

For me, a new year starts on the very best footing if there is a new Coen Brothers film in the offing.

Hail , Caesar! is the brothers' first feature since Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) but they have made significant contributions to other films in the meantime, including writing credits for Angelina Jolie's directorial debut Unbroken (2014) and Steven Spielberg's Bridge of Spies (2015), as well as executive producing the excellent TV re-make of Fargo.

Their latest film doesn't quite match the sublime achievements of O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), their best film ever, but it comes close.

Both films feature George Clooney, who once again takes great delight in playing the dim-witted but appealing lead.

Its primary appeal will be to film-goers who have a love of film which stretches back to the 1940s and 1950s, in order to fully appreciate the rich period detail but also the sly, off-centre humour about an era in Hollywood when the studios and their stars were in decline.

The plot is pretty daft, involving kidnapping, a morally-tormented hard man, a sword-and-sandal epic, dancing sailors, a singing cowboy, synchronised swimming (evoking aquatic film star Esther Williams), British drawing-room drama, overnight marriages, Tilda Swinton in ridiculous hats (evoking gossip columnist Hedda Hopper), and a Russian submarine.

No one is spared the Coens' sharp, satirical eye, including a cabal of 'Communist' Hollywood writers who are treated much less sympathetically than in the recent film Trumbo.

Nevertheless, Scarlett Johansson is once again sublime.

There are unusual moments for a comedy, including a theological debate between representatives of various religions, who concur in the end that Jesus was a 'swell guy'. Highly recommended.