HAIL, CAESAR! Looks like a great idea from the trailers, but the movie is a jumbled mess which is a comedic tribute to the latter years of Hollywood’s Golden Age.  I think this idea from the Cohen Brothers should have stayed one until they had a better script.  This is one of the worst films from the writing/ directing duo of brothers and it is below the standard they have set for some of their classic movies like FARGO, THE BIG LIEBOWSKI, and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN.  Even if it wasn’t a Cohen Brotehrs movie, this is just a movie that needed a solid script instead of this mess with a great cast and a few laughs. The cast features Josh Brolin as studio fixer Eddie Mannix, George Clooney as a kidnapped actor, Scarlett Johansson, Chaning Tatum, Ralph Fiennes as a director, Christopher Lambert as another Hollywood director, Alden Ehrenreich as a Western cowboy star, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton in a dual role as twin gossip columnists, and Jonah Hill.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

DIRECTING HOLLYWOOD- the cast talk about the Cohen Brothers

THE STARS ALIGN- this featurette is about the cast and how they jump for a chance to be in a Covens Brothers movie

AN ERA OF GLAMOUR- the costumes and production design of HAIL, CAESAR!

MAGIC OF A BYGONE ERA- the cast and crew talk about the movie scenes they create in HAIL, CAESAR! as a tribute/ homage to classic Hollywood movie scenes

Also included in this combo is the movie on DVD in standard definition and a code to download and/ or stream a digital HD copy of HAIL, CAESAR!

FINAL ANALYSIS: HAIL, CAESAR! is a misfire from the Cohen Brothers that may should have stayed just an idea instead of a collection of homage tributes and comedic moments that don’t quite gel together as a movie.   Rent this if you need to see it or go watch a better COHEN BROTEHRS movie like THE HUDSUCKER PROXY, FARGO, or even THE BIG LIEBOWSKI.

This review is ©6-12-2016 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com