The life of a studio-fixer is a busy one that takes no rests and encounters a variety of fascinating characters. This is the life of Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) in “Hail, Caesar!,” the newest film from brothers Ethan and Joel Coen.  

Mannix works for Capitol pictures as, you guessed it, their studio-fixer. Essentially, his job is to keep the film stars in line and production running smooth.  All that gets a little complicated when the star of the studio’s biggest motion picture is kidnapped and held for a ransom by a group called “The Future”. Mannix works the case while also considering a new job opportunity at an aviation company called Lockheed.

“Hail, Caesar!” is an entertaining movie.  The humor in the film is clever and usually takes a little wit to get a kick out of. Some jokes, like a man accidentally getting hit in the head, are simple and funny. Others require a little more thought, like the fact that the communist characters in the film are predominantly writers.

My personal favorite joke comes from a scene where Mannix is overseeing a meeting with local religious leaders to see if the studio’s new film, Hail, Caesar!, is blasphemous at all.  Mannix’s desire to ensure the film is safe and the religious leaders’ varying views on Christ make a hilarious debate, one ridden with theological paradoxes and peculiarities. Another notable joke are the twin journalists Thora and Thessaly Thacker (Tilda Swinton) who always seem to appear one after the other.

Humor aside, the atmosphere of “Hail, Caesar!” is entertaining in and of itself. The noire setting of the fifties clashes with the bright optimism of the day’s film industry. Early film tropes are embraced through moments set aside specifically for showing scenes from Capitol Pictures’ movies. This happens often and makes it clear that this is an ode’ to the days of classic cinema, swept away by television and America’s constantly changing tastes.

The conflict arises when the popular and important actor, Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), is kidnapped by very reasonable communists. The group, referring to themselves as “The Future,” teach Whitlock about Socialism and the science of using economics to predict the future. They are incredibly friendly towards Whitlock but refuse the let him go until they receive the ransom money they asked for. As a result, Whitlock just hangs out at The Future’s headquarters in Malibu learning about Communism.

Truthfully, “Hail, Caesar!” is a very crowded movie with a slew of famous actors who get little more than a cameo appearance, despite seeming to be important characters. Essentially, there are a lot of Captain Phasma’s in this movie.  Characters like Joseph Silverman (Jonah Hill) are shown in only one scene and DeeAnna Moran’s (Scarlett Johansson) side plot is almost completely irrelevant to the overall story of the film.  

Things like this seem to make the movie feel far too crowded which is usually a negative when it comes to critiquing a movie.  However in the case of “Hail, Caesar!” it almost seems like this is what the Coen brothers were going for. The loud and sometimes frivolous nature of the movie is a direct comparison to that of Mannix’s job. After all, this is his story, even in moments when I did not expect it to be.

“Hail, Caesar!” is a good movie. Its humor is thought out and doesn’t seem like shallow garbage cooked up solely to make money. Paying homage to the old days of cinema creates an enticing atmosphere. The characters are all fascinating and there is enough talent to match that fascination with believability. No matter how fascinating some characters are, it does not make up for the lack of development others get, especially when they seem to be important. The all-over-the-place manner of the movie can be disappointing to some movie-goers, although it seemed to be one big metaphor for the protagonist’s life.  “Hail, Caesar!” is rated PG-13 and is currently playing at RC Theatres 10 in KDH.