Hail, Caesar! (2016)

A Hollywood fixer in the 1950s works to keep the studio's stars in line.

Directors:

Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Writers:

Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Stars:

Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 13 wins & 43 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Josh Brolin	...	Eddie Mannix
George Clooney	...	Baird Whitlock
Alden Ehrenreich	...	Hobie Doyle
Ralph Fiennes	...	Laurence Laurentz
Scarlett Johansson	...	DeeAnna Moran
Tilda Swinton	...	Thora Thacker / Thessaly Thacker
Channing Tatum	...	Burt Gurney
Frances McDormand	...	C.C. Calhoun
Jonah Hill	...	Joe Silverman
Veronica Osorio	...	Carlotta Valdez
Heather Goldenhersh	...	Natalie - Secretary
Alison Pill	...	Mrs. Mannix
Max Baker	...	Head Communist Writer
Fisher Stevens	...	Communist Writer
Patrick Fischler	...	Communist Writer

Storyline

This movie follows a day in the life of Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), a Hollywood fixer for Capitol Pictures in the 1950s, who cleans up and solves problems for big names and stars in the industry. But when studio star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) disappears, Mannix has to deal with more than just the fix.

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Plot Keywords:

film within a film | communist conspiracy | screenwriter | western movie | studio system | 

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Taglines:

Lights. Camera. Abduction.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some suggestive content and smoking

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the 1990s, George Clooney's Caesar haircut was one of his trademarks. This movie gives him a Caesar cut much more closely based on Caesar.

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Goofs

When Eddie's secretary tells Eddie that he has a call on line 2, Eddie picks up the telephone handset but does not press the line 2 button. The last call Eddie had on that telephone was on line 1, so he still would have been using line 1 on that line 2 call.

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Quotes

Eddie Mannix: As for the religious aspect, does the depiction of Christ Jesus cut the mustard?
Catholic Clergyman: Well, the nature of Christ is not quite as simple as your photoplay would have it.
Eddie Mannix: How so, father?
Catholic Clergyman: It's not the case, simply, that Christ is God or God - Christ.
Rabbi: You can say that again! The Nazarene was not God.
Eastern Orthodox Clergyman: He was not not God.
Rabbi: He was a man.
Protestant Clergyman: Part God.
Rabbi: No, sir!
Eddie Mannix: Rabbi, all of us have a little bit of God in us, don't we?

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Crazy Credits

The movie's title "Hail, Caesar!" appears onscreen as the title of the biblical epic that Eddie is watching in dailies.

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Connections

References Tight Shoes (1941)

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Soundtracks

No Dames!
Music by Henry Krieger
Lyrics by Willie Reale
Performed by Channing Tatum
Arranged by Sam Davis
Orchestrator Doug Besterman
Recordings & Mixer Todd Whitelock
Contractor Howard Joines

User Reviews

Not for everyone, and maybe that's a good thing...

HAIL CAESAR! ("A Story of the Christ", as we are told in the title card) is one of those offbeat gems that I have no doubt grows in affection with repeated viewings. Folks here complain that it's not a laugh-a-minute farce, that it's not this, that it's not that...

Here's what it *is*: the film version of RADIO DAYS.

Just like Allen made a loving pastiche of radio at its height in the 1940s, so have the Coens done for film at the tail end of its Silver Screen era, when studios manipulated its contract players and worked the media to prevent the "unfortunate" aspects from being revealed to an audience that just wanted escapism fantasy. Josh Brolin is the tightly-wound studio "head of physical production", an enforcer who's being seduced by a potential job with Lockheed to oversee work on the atom bomb. Before he can come to a decision about whether or not take it, he has to deal with the sudden disappearance of the slightly disconnected-from-reality George Clooney (who looks like he's having a blast in this, especially in the final scene of his big budget sword-and-sandel Jesus epic). Along the way, we see the Coens' take on Esther Williams, Carmen Miranda, Gene Kelly, and a host of other stars from the era...

... and this is what makes the film so damn much fun. It's not about the story, it's about how the Coens are celebrating the films we have perhaps idealized a bit too much: Esther Williams' underwater ballets and Gene Kelly in NYC for 24 hours and Gary Cooper trying to play it in a toney, high-class period drama. There are so many references to the great films of the day that if you blink, you'll miss a few — they follow fast and furious and sometimes with little more than a sly wink. If you are an old time movie buff, you will love this film to tiny little bits. If not... well, you probably wont enjoy it all that much.

But then the Coens probably didn't make it for you, did they...

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [France]

Country:

USA UK Japan

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 February 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hail, Caesar! A Tale of The Christ

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,355,225, 7 February 2016

Gross USA:

$30,498,085

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$63,647,656

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Working Title Films, Mike Zoss Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1