Hail, Caesar! 4K 2016

Without a doubt, this film is an intellectual piece with elements of comedy and drama.

Until halfway through the film, I watched it intently, trying to figure out what it was really аbout: is it to show how the main character, played by Josh Brolin, handles all the behind-the-scenes affairs of a Hollywood studio, or is it a film about how communist screenwriters kidnapped George Clooney’s character to present their demands to studio bosses, or a film about a cowboy hero who can’t act professionally in an intellectual film, or about the story of the mermaid heroine Scarlett Johansson, or about twin reporters played by Tilda Swinton.

At times, it feels like you’re watching a stage play or a musical, or a drama, or a comedy, or a romance, or a mystery. In short, it feels like total chaos. There’s no main narrative thread, no specific film genre—it’s all thrown together. I apologize in advance if anyone was moved by this film, but to me it seemed like a run-of-the-mill, forgettable product. By the second half of the film, I was watching without understanding the point of the story anymore.

The acting is, of course, good, but the screenplay really dragged the film down. They should have focused on one specific story and made the other subplots secondary. Instead, equal time is devoted to all the stories, which results in a hodgepodge.

I can only single out a few specific scenes that I liked, such as the one where the film’s director, played by Ralph Fiennes, tries to drill into the thick skull of an action-cowboy movie actor how to act in an intellectual film, or the scene with Caesar’s kidnapping.