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.



 

Tangerine: Like a Familiar Dream

The most shocking thing about Tangerine-currently being touted as one of the best films of 2015-is just how conventional it feels. Once you get past the novelty of a film providing some representation of an oft-marginalised group plus the iPhone aesthetics you realise that Tangerine is just another 'crazy day in LA'. And sadly it isn't one that's particularly dramatic or even funny. Which isn't to say the film is bad, simply underwhelming and leads one to wonder exactly what the fuss is about.

But to the film itself. The film is centred on Sin Dee (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) and Alexandra (Mya Taylor), two trans-women and prostitutes whose friendship is very much the emotional core of the film. Sin Dee has just finished a brief stint in jail only to discover that Chester, her boyfriend and pimp, has been cheating on her with a 'fish' (a cisgender female). So they embark on a haphazard voyage across LA to track down the fish and confront Chester. Meanwhile Alexandra is focused on singing at a local club and trying to encourage her friends to come.

What follows feels like a rather bog-standard succession of encounters among the denizens of Los Angeles mostly other transgender people until Sin Dee finally finds her fish. The problem being that while most films would use each scene to construct a comic set-piece or flesh out its characters to Tangerine they're merely stepping stones. Each new character is a chance for Sin Dee to demonstrate her obnoxiousness and Alexandra her exasperation. There are no surprises, Sin Dee finds the woman and drags her across town, stretching out suspension of disbelief in the process, before at least trying to reconcile things with Alexandra.

Alexandra's show is the tragic peak of her character. Something she's been putting considerable time and effort into an in the end is just another seedy LA bar that she had to pay to sing at. It's a small, sad performance only attended by a late Sin Dee and the fish she's literally dragged into the situation. To Tangerine's credit there's no pat moment of reconciliation, no revelatory turn that will redeem these characters of their bad behavior. This is a film about loud, rude angry people in a world where the only thing they have of value is their own bodies. It would be disingenuous to suggest some greater change or arc is going to come across two people who exist as the flotsam of an abusive industry.

The friendship between Sin Dee and Alexandra is the film's strongest quality. Two people with only each other whose loyalty is tested by Sin Dee's temper and Alexandra's aspirations. Alexandra is definitely the better characterised of the two, just as outspoken as Sin Dee and quick to anger but tempered with a desire to do better. She's past being sick of her life as a prostitute and has little time for Sin Dee's antics but is still ashamed to disappoint her.

The film also takes time out for a subplot about Razmik (Karren Karagulian), an Armenian cabdriver with an interest in Sin Dee and Alexandra, unbeknownst to his wife and child. Early scenes of Ramik picking up passengers, all with their own comic moments to experience, feel inorganic to the actions of Sin Dee and Alexandra. And while his story does eventually payoff it doesn't stop the character feeling like a distraction from the main action.

Eventually the disparate characters of  Sin Dee, Alexandra, Chester and Razmik come together for a farcical showdown at a local donut shop. While the scene does bring the film to some sense of a climx there's little in the way of drama in a scene about five or so people yelling at each other. Secrets are revealed and everyone hurls verbal abuse at each other until they can no longer stand it. Funny yes, but without any kind of dramatic context to make it meaningful.

Tangerine is an exceptional film, but it's exceptional only for its courage and the circumstances which brought it about. The fact that it was shot on an iPhone certainly gives it a unique look but one devoid of the suspense, amusement or engagement we get from clever uses of cinematography and editing. I am glad that Tangerine exists and that contemporary culture is recognising transgender people as a part of our society's fabric but this is not a film I'll be returning to soon.