Analysis of ’Hail, Caesar!’

‘Hail, Caesar!’ is a 2016 comedy film written and directed by the Coen brothers. The movie is set in the 1950s Hollywood industry. Josh Brolin, one of the leads of the film plays the role of Eddie Mannix whose responsibility is to ensure a smooth running of the production of the film.

The plot of the film revolves around the kidnapping of one of the major star (Baird Whitlock played by George Clooney) of the Capitol production ‘Hail, Caesar!’ which is a fairly simple and very common plot. This is so, because the Coen brothers wanted the focus of the movie to be the serious philosophical wanderings that are presented through humorous exaggerations, funny characterizations, and a mock seriousness of both character and situations.

The star cast of the movie also includes big names like Scarlett Johansson in the, and Channing Tatum who performs a marvelous musical tap-dancing sequence. The story-telling techniques of the movie are similar to a few other Coen productions like ‘The Big Lebowski’ and ‘Raising Arizona.’ While the philosophical framework is borrowed from previous Coen brother movies such as, ‘True Grit’ and ‘A Serious Man.’

The Coen brother productions have become popular for being notoriously simple yet hugely entertaining. The character of Eddie Mannix, for instance, chooses to keep wrestling with the psychotic nuances of the cinematic world rather than cashing in on other big opportunities. This proves that his compulsion behind work is not simply monetary ambition but an exploration of the variety of life. Overall, this is a vastly entertaining movie, with incredible humor, comic timing, with an inherent seriousness of the conceptual framework.

      Works Cited

A Serious Man. Dir. Ethan Coen Joel Coen. Perf. Richard Kind, Sari Lennick Michael Stuhlbarg. 2009.

Hail, Caesar! Dir. Joel Coen Ethan Coen. Perf. George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich Josh Brolin. 2016.

Raising Arizona. Dir. Joel Coen Ethan Coen. Perf. Holly Hunter, Trey Wilson Nicolas Cage. 1987.

The Big Lebowski. Dir. Ethan Coen Joel Coen. Perf. John Goodman, Julianne Moore Jeff Bridges. 1998.

True Grit. Dir. Ethan Coen Joel Coen. Perf. Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld Jeff Bridges. 2010.