The film takes place circa 1951 and centers on Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) a film producer for Capitol Films. He is faced with a number of issues which he must solve while trying to give up smoking. His main headache is Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) the star of his epic film "Hail Caesar." He has been kidnapped and ransomed by a communist cell during film production. Meanwhile he he forced to miscast cowboy star Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich) who can't act in a societal comedy/drama.The feature spoofs the gloss and crap that came from that era as films had a monopoly on entertainment. We see a Carmen Miranda type (Veronica Osorio), Channing Tatum dancing like Gene Kelly in "Anchors Away"; Scarlett Johansson as Esther Williams in "Million Dollar Mermaid" and George Clooney plays a Richard Burton type in "The Robe." Hobie Doyle was a generic singing cowboy with a "Gabby Hayes" sidekick.The Coen film holds some enjoyment for those familiar with the era. There were some good exchanges such as the theological debate and Jonah Hill taking about being a professional person-hood. It comically shows the Hollywood 10 black listed doing unorthodox things. The main problem with this feature is that it is a Coen Brothers film, so the bar has been set Raising Arizona high. If this was a new director/writer they would be hailed as genius.Guide: No F-words, sex, or nudity.

Before I die, I'd like someone to explain to me why the Coens are so revered. This offering, I grant you, lacks the usual scenes of sadism they like toss in. But that's pretty much all it's got going for it. First off, there's no story. None, and Clooney's being seduced by commie screenwriters is not a story. Then...what decade is this? Brolin uses a 1930s phone, the musical numbers are MGM late 1940s, and there's a singing cowboy star who would not be a star in the 1940s. THEN - the pastiche numbers. I've seen lots of Gene Kelly/sailor dancing films. Basically, I kept waiting for a movie to start. One never did.

Production head at fictional Capitol Pictures in 1950s Hollywood is forced to pay ransom on the star of his latest Roman Sandals epic after the perplexed actor is drugged and abducted by a Communist organization; meanwhile, production continues on a sailor musical, a water ballet (with a pregnant, unmarried starlet) and a black-and-white romance featuring the studio's number-one cowboy star out of his element. Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, "Hail, Caesar!" gives off the impression of film school students running rampant with a huge bankroll. It's a well-produced, fast-paced comedy, but one that offers little more than select episodes reproduced from the movie-memories of two brothers who have watched a lot of TV, attended a lot of film retrospectives, who have the look and flip talk of the '50s classics down pat, but who possess such a dry sense of humor that they may be the only two laughing. Scarlett Johansson has a great bit in a mermaid's tail, Tilda Swinton is spot-on playing twin sister reporters who write competing entertainment columns, and Channing Tatum does a sweet Gene Kelly-like dance routine. Unfortunately, much of the "plot" concerns James Brolin and George Clooney, neither of whom finds their comic groove here. *1/2 from ****

A rambling shaggy dog story set in Hollywood of the 1950's ... a movie star (George Clooney) is kidnapped off the set of a Biblical epic he's starring in. There are a couple of distinct but related subplots, and all of it ties back to studio exec Josh Brolin trying to put out all the fires while considering a better job offer from Lockheed. Every once in a while, the Coens make a film simply because it amuses them and allows them to exercise their love of classic Hollywood. This is one of those. They stage multiple scenes from films being made by this studio ... musicals, westerns, comedies, epics ... and each is a meticulously recreated pastiche of a 50's film. If you're on their wavelength, it's immensely rewarding. If you're not, it's a bunch of stars gathered together for a plot that ultimately goes almost nowhere. I'm in the first camp ... I loved this.