Hail, Caeser! A Story of The Coens

While the Coen Brothers are undeniably the big success story of America's independent film industry, a talented writer/director duo able to make unique arthouse films to huge popularity, they have always had more success at drama than comedy. No Country for Old Men is probably their most mirthless film, lacking even in the kind of gallows humour that made Fargo so watchable.Yet it's one of their most successful, both critically and commercially. When people bring up the comedic craftsmanship of the Coens they will always point to The Big Lebowski, which rightfully stands as one of the all time greats. However outside of The Dude lies the likes of Burn After Reading, Hudsucker Proxy and, dare we say it, Intolerable Cruelty. Yes, The Coens always produce great films but their success in dramatic films, even ones with strong comedic moments, has always been more consistent.

So it's a delight then to report the Hail,Caeser! is perhaps the most definitively successful comedy since The Big Lebowski. At once a love letter and take-down of classic Hollywood that takes one of the industry's least reputable figures and presents him as its biggest advocate. In fact Hail, Ceaser!'s biggest achievement is taking some of the worst representations of the Studio System and finding nuance and even virtue in them.

As with most Coen protagonists E.J. Mannix (Josh Brolin) is the one at the centre of a cast of neurotics, narcissists and dimwits. He's a 'fixer' covering for the scandals his stars bring and resolving the interference from outside sources. We follow Mannix as he attempts to deal with the shenanigans caused by said narcissists during a day of shooting. One of the most compelling things about Mannix though is how he's managed to apply his catholic faith to an occupation fuelled by vice and indulgence. He believes in the value of film, the artistry, the effect it has on culture, on people. Hail, Ceaser! is fundamentally a film about faith and Mannix's faith in his work is steadfast in the face of temptation, in the face of doubt, even in the face of all evidence that he is wrong.

Brolin portrays Mannix with the facade of all the tough guy roles he's played before. Stern, forceful, towering over even the likes of Clooney. Yet all too easily the facade breaks and you see the doubt and temptation crawl over him. You sympathise with his guilt and his desire to flee the gaudy circus when a Lockheed executive approaches him with a lucrative job offer. For all Mannix's intimidation and manipulation he's is one of the most likeable protagonists the Coens have written in some time.

Mannix's main concern is the production of biblical epic Hail, Caeser! already troubled by the picture's dimwitted star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) and the approval of the religious community. The first is resolved in a masterful early scene where heads of various faiths debate the nature of Christ, eventually descending into nitpicking and rambling in front of an increasingly exasperated Mannix. Then the real drama happens when Whitlock is kidnapped and production has to be halted.

While this is the plot you've all seen from the trailers in truth it's only one part of a story built on smaller subplots. The abduction story merely serves as the connective tissue to a series of petty disagreements and tabloid disasters that Mannix is forced to intervene in. From Scarlett Johannssen's starlet falling pregnant with a married man's child to Alden Ehrenreich's capable but awkward cowboy actor roped into a high society drama.

The laughs come thick and fast courtesy of the Coens' delightful dialogue and characterisation. The fact that all these characters are in conflict and yet are obligated to be amenable to each other means no scene is short of tension or wit. Jokes built on the ridiculous necessity to wear a 'fish ass' for work or an editor almost being choked to death by her own film reels are delivered with expert timing and instantly memorable performances. Each setpiece is so well realised as both a classic Hollywood scandal and classic Hollywood production that it's no wonder critics would have rather saw the films Capitol is making than the shenanigans in between.

Once the mysterious cult holding Whitlock reveals itself as The Future, the pieces quickly fall into place regarding the larger meaning at play. Lockheed pursues Mannix with warnings that his career in film is a thing of the past. Not exactly an exageration when you realise exactly when the film is set, when the studio system is facing it's collapse, when the ubiquity of television is on the horizon and the atomic bomb threatens to destroy everything. Whitlock's abductors may be hapless Communists but they serve as the manifestation of his spiritual conflict.

Mannix may have complete and utter faith in the frivolity of Hollywood but that faith is at odds with the reality ahead of him. And yet it's the epitome of that frivolous world that is the source of his salvation. A surprise turn from Hobie Doyle in which Ehrenreich receives his pay-off for having owned every scene as the dullard dust actor. It is through is actions that Mannix's faith in the righteousness of Hollywood is restored and he can return to work a more contented man. In leaving him so the Coens' finally deliver a satisfying conclusion that we leave the happier for.