‘Hail Caesar!’ brings back the past

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“Hail Caesar!” brings many legendary names together to produce an impressive cinematic film, but lacks story depth.

The film takes place during  the 1950s inside a Hollywood production studio.

Although “Hail Caesar!” does not contain one specific storyline, the main plot follows Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), a Hollywood fixer, someone who is paid to disguise details about celebrities’ private lives to conserve their public image, as he tries to locate a missing actor.

“Hail Caesar!” blends together history, drama and communism while still retaining the Coen brothers’ witty humor. The directors put meticulous thought into every line and shot. The use of light and color gives it the genuine feel of Hollywood’s heyday.

Most major characters perform introductory scenes. These snippets provide the audience with a chance to observe each character in their specific role.

Unfortunately, the movie falls short in several ways. Despite the charming and clever dialogue, the story lacks the depth of many other Coen brothers movies. The directors condensed the film into the shortest time frame possible, which makes every second count but blurs the story, making it confusing and hard to follow. Towards the end of the movie, the plot seems to drop off, leaving viewers without a satisfactory ending to many of the subplots.

Much of the promotion focuses on a few big stars. However, in reality, characters such as Joseph Silverman (Jonah Hill) appear on screen for only a few minutes.

Many actors who appeared in past Coen brothers films return, giving great performances. Both DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johanssen) and Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) return to collaborate with the directors.

Alden Ehrenreich delivers a breakout performance portraying Hobie Doyle, a Western star struggling to adapt to the changing tastes of moviegoers.

Often, films get lost in the weeds spending too much time focusing on insignificant scenes, but “Hail Caesar!” does not follow this trend. The movie would’ve actually benefitted from more time, as many scenes are rushed and miss many possible plotlines.

Overall, the movie gives a fair amount of laughs with great dialogue. The story, however, lacks the heart of other Coen brothers productions. “Hail Caesar!” features many famous actors who round out the film but are overshadowed by a new relatively unknown actor. Even though there were shortcomings, the production lived up to expectations.

7.5/10