Has Anyone Seen Hail, Caesar"?

I watched the movie again today and was wondering if anyone else has seen it and if you did, what did you think? I don't want to give anything away for anyone who still plans to see it, but I'm curious what others thought of the film.

Lizzy, carolh and I discussed it in the thread "Hail Caesar commands $543,000 box office". But I don't recall anyone else discussing it here.

I enjoyed it . I would like to rent it again  . George was so funny .  Too funny .

amaretti - I enjoyed it, too, but after watching it again I felt like there was something about it that didn't work for me. I loved the concept of the film and they got all the period details right. Scene for scene, the writing was good and yet I was left feeling unsatisfied. Somehow, for me at least, the movie lacked depth - more like a series of vignettes strung together than a tightly woven script - and I'm not sure if the problem was in the writing or the editing. Seems to me they did it much better back in the "olden days" that the Coens were trying to capture. Maybe there was something to the studio system after all.


Donnamarie - I must have missed your earlier post. I think most of us were waiting for everyone to see the movie before we commented and then other things happened and we forgot about it. I'd still like to hear other opinions.

Saw it. Didn't care for it. But I didn't expect to; I've never been a Coen Bros fan. I watched it because George was in it. His character was just used as a flimsy thread for the 'story.' The movie was pretty much a string of set pieces, some of which were very good. But I was not impressed with it as a cohesive narrative, even by my low Coen expectations.

Way2Old - That was my impression, too. George was ok, but nothing about the movie seemed completely developed . I was watching an old 1930s B movie with Dick Powell and it struck me how much better constructed a movie it was than "Hail Caesar". When it was released it was probably just one of the hundreds of routine seat-fillers the studios put out but it was well scripted, tightly edited and felt like a finished product in the end. I wish George would work more with Soderbergh instead of the Coens.

I love love love Intolerable Cruelty . So funny .

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Sorry, guys, it's not copying for me.

There's a paragraph about 'Hail, Caesar!' Not very flattering.

Way2Old4Dis wrote:Saw it. Didn't care for it. But I didn't expect to; I've never been a Coen Bros fan. I watched it because George was in it. His character was just used as a flimsy thread for the 'story.' The movie was pretty much a string of set pieces, some of which were very good. But I was not impressed with it as a cohesive narrative, even by my low Coen expectations.

Actually this one didn't impress me a lot either, and I've always been a huge Coens fan. George's character seems pretty funny but not very important in the core plots. Love some of the great visuals and jokes in it, but the whole film confused me a bit. Definitely not the least accesible Coens, I got the strange feeling that it has so much more layers underneath its simple,scattered roles and plots.

Way2Old4Dis wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Sorry, guys, it's not copying for me.

There's a paragraph about 'Hail, Caesar!' Not very flattering.

Here's the paragraph:

Biggest Letdown: Hail, Caesar! Yes, I know it has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 85 percent, but I think it’s one of those times when the critics didn’t get it, but because it’s Joel and Ethan Coen, they assume it must be great and so gave it a pass. I really don’t know of a single person who saw this movie and liked it. The rare Coens swing-and-miss, it’s one of those movies that has some terrific ingredients but … they just don’t really add up to the sumptuous meal you were expecting, and instead just puts you to sleep.

I  completely agree with this reviewer. The Coens had all the ingredients for a great film - cool premise, great cast - but they somehow managed to forget how to pull a story together.

Sevens, if there are layers underneath even the Coens don't know what they are. If they did, this would have been a much better film. I wonder if the Coens have achieved such a status that during the filming process no one dares question their decisions or make suggestions.. Surely someone noticed this wasn't coming together. Maybe they realized that the various vignettes weren't coming together, but it was too late to fix things. 

Brilliant word, Lizzy. Vignettes. That's exactly what it is in my opinion. And undoubtedly a brilliant look at how it all was then. The styling and look of the era was superb.

Wonder how it looks in Cafe Society............

I enjoyed the styling and look of the era  .   

Thanks, Mel.

I really need to upgrade my electronics..

I caught this on a flight somewhere. It didn't really grab me, I have to say, although I don't love everything the Coen's make. Somehow it seemed to be silly rather than funny.

George does look good in a skirt though, doesn't he? Damn him!

I liked it... it's more of an off the cuff story of all the crap a studio head ( or whatever his title is) has to deal with on a given day back in the 40's.  Kind of like what Stan must go through on any given day with ( formerly) Charlie Sheen, DeNiro, and let's not forget all the grey hair George has and still does give him.  Or maybe that's why Stan is follically challenged.


The fact that you were on a flight "somewhere"... gives me pause.  Don't you know where you were bound, or did the sight of George's bare knees leave you completely flustered??

Haha! I did a lot of flying last year and don't remember which flight it was. Those seat back screens are way too small to really enjoy the sight of George's knees!