FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2016 • 7C
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‘Hail, Caesar!’ film fans
SEE IT NOW OR WAIT
WHO WILL LIKE THIS...
STANDOUT PERFORMANCE
PASS/FAIL
EDITOR’S NOTE: Film Fans features local residents reviewing the movie of the week: “Hail Caesar!” To be a film fan, email features@gwinnettdailypost.com.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
Pass: Overall, it’s an amusing film filled with the Coens’ usual quirky tone, and it pays nice homage to HolHol lywood’s bygone days. Fail: While the movie has a lot of fun moments, the plot feels empty and makes the movie feel slightly longer than it is.
Every actor gave a truly great performance, but George Clooney’s clueless act makes up for the shortcomings of the plot.
Though lacking the dark bite of “Fargo,” or the zaniness of “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” any Coen brothers fan would enjoy this movie.
While it’s an enjoyable movie, it’s not a “must see in theaters” kind of movie. Save your money and wait on the Blu-ray, unless you’re a die-hard fan.
It’s an enjoyable little film that pays nice tribute to “old” Hollywood. George Clooney really shows his star power, and he owns the screen every time he’s on it. But while most of the films from the Coen brothers feel more like an ensemble, Clooney almost carries it. The plot feels very thin, and the scenes serve more to humor than to actually move it along. Great performances all around, and there are laughs to be had, but it falls slightly short of the usual quality that comes with a Coen brothers film.
Pass: The cinematography and costuming are both top-notch here. “Hail, Caesar!” is a beautiful film to behold. The opening credits are cleverly done in a movie-within-a-movie style. Fail: The script is rather listless and the pacing monotonous. Also, the frequent ultra close-ups of stars George Clooney and Josh Brolin became tiresome after a while.
There were two performances that stuck with me after leaving the theater. First, Alden Ehrenreich, who plays the dopey Hobie Doyle, is a joy to watch. He pulls focus in all the scenes in which he appears without being overly hammy or obnoxious. Also turning in a memorable performance is Channing Tatum, who leads a large group of sailors in a song-and-dance number that could have easily been in the musical “On the Town.”
If you are a Coen brothers fan, you are sure to find much to like here. Or, if you are lover of old Hollywood movies, there’s enough to keep you interested for a couple hours. For the general moviegoer, however, I’m not sure this is blockbuster material. It’s slow, sometimes tedious, and somewhat heavy-handed with its Communismthemed plot. And the subplot dealing with faith and redemption is forced and obvious.
Because it is so beautifully shot, it is worth a matinee in the theater if you are Coen brothers fan, or if you enjoy old Hollywood movies. If you don’t fall into either category, wait for the Bluray.
“Hail, Caesar!” is not horrible. It just didn’t captivate me the way that I had hoped. I overheard another theater patron say that “the trailer was better than the actual movie,” and I tend to agree. I expected more levity and lightness to go along with the vibrant cinematography. And I think the Coen brothers overdid it with the huge roster of big-name Hollywood actors appearing in the film. Jonah Hill, who has been doing the promotional circuit for the movie this week, doesn’t appear until the very end and is present for about five minutes. Tilda Swinton, who plays a set of twins, has a couple of great scenes, but they, too, are brief and are over before you know it. And George Clooney probably shot his scenes in a single day and seems bored overall. This one will have a limited audience and, if I don’t miss my guess, a limited run as well.
Pass: A great cast; cinematography and costumes that capture the golden age of movie production in the early 1950s; some very funny parts and scathing satire of Hollywood throughout the film. Fail: A storyline that zigged and zagged around a lot, constantly trying to regain its focus; the humorous parts were too few and far between; all of this added up to an uneven and somewhat slow flick that should have been a lot better.
Although George Clooney got top billing for “Hail, Caesar!”, his contribution to the film wasn’t all that memorable. Several other actors outshone him. “Hail, Caesar!” really centered around the character of Eddie Mannix (a great job by Josh Brolin), a Hollywood “fixer” for fictional Capitol Studios who faces a perfect storm trying to keep the studio’s actors in line while dealing with production deadlines. It was also fun to see Channing Tatum as song-and-dance man Burt Gurney, channeling Gene Kelly. However, Scarlett Johansson and Johah Hill were pretty much wasted talents in minor roles on this flick.
Those who like the zany, screwball comedies of the 1940s and ’50s will enjoy much of this movie, despite its ups and downs. If you’re a fan of Turner Classic Movies, especially those featuring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, “Hail, Caesar!” is right up your alley.
You can wait on the Blu-ray for “Hail, Caesar!” While it has its moments, the flick overall is a major underachiever.
“Hail, Caesar!” is actually a moviewithin-a-movie starring George Clooney’s character, Baird Whitlock, as a Roman centurion at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion (an obvious homage to Charlton Heston and “Ben-Hur”). It’s fun to watch Brolin’s character as he deals with crisis after crisis all in the same day, barking orders, dictating memos, playing politics and even slapping a couple of faces to get results. I’m a huge fan of movies of the genre portrayed in “Hail, Caesar!” and loved those moments when the movie hit on all cylinders. However, you have to trudge through a lot of distracting dialogue and secondary characters to get to the enjoyable bits. As several of the moviegoers said as we were leaving the theater, “It was funny at times, but it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be.”
Ron Adams, Athens
HHHH
Paul Tate, Sugar Hill
HHHH
Tim Weekley, Suwanee
HHHH Lights, camera,
questions Test your film knowledge with Michael Clark So, you think you’re good at movie trivia? Every week, we give readers the opportunity to flex their movie muscles by answering five trivia questions from our movie critic, Michael Clark. Congratulations to last week’s winner, Joe Cook of Loganville. Here are last week’s questions again and the answers: 1. Name an Oscar winner who played multiple characters in “The Godfather” trilogy. A: Sofia Coppola (Connie’s son Michael in “I,” a ship passenger in “II” and Mary Corleone in “III”) 2. What man has won the most Academy Awards ever? A: Walt Disney (26) 3. What song is played during the last scene and closing credits in “The Breakfast Club?” A: “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds 4. Name a professional sports Hall of Fame member who played a cameo role in “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.” A: Dan Marino and Don Shula 5. In what US state are the majority of movies based on Stephen King works set? A: Maine
Now, for this week’s questions: 1. What is the cinematic common bond shared by: Jim Croce, Kool & the Gang, Stealers Wheel, Al Green, Dusty Springfield, Urge Overkill, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, the Grass Roots, the White Stripes, Nancy Sinatra, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, David Bowie, Dick Dale and Joe Tex? 2. According to the Tom Hanks character in “You’ve Got Mail,” what movie provides the answers to most of life’s questions? 3. Name a movie that was the fourth installment in a franchise to be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Picture category. 4. Name a movie where George Clooney played a professional athlete. 5. Name the last movie to win the Oscar for Best Picture that was set in a fictional location. The first person (located within the US) to respond with all of the correct answers receives a prize of an item or items (movie T-shirts, hats, posters, etc.). The winner also gets their name published in the next Weekend section. Please e-mail your answers, along with your name to clarkwriter@mindspring. com. Include “Gwinnett Daily Post Trivia Contest” in the subject line. In the event no one answers all of the questions correctly, the person with the most correct answers submitted by 6 p.m. the Monday after the contest is posted will be the winner. Only one winner per household is eligible for each 30-day period.
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DISC SPOTLIGHT MICHAEL CLARK
Grandma Blu-ray (R) Movie: HHHH Disc: HHHH Industry treasure Lily Tomlin is in peak form as Elle, a retired professor still mourning the death of her longtime girlfriend who reconnects with her estranged granddaughter Sage (Julia Garner). Over the course of a day, the cash-strapped Elle visits a handful of old friends, business associates and a still bitter ex-lover (Sam Elliott) in the hopes of scraping up enough cash to get Sage out of a pickle of sorts. Director Paul Weitz wrote the screenplay specifically with Tomlin in mind,
and he delivers her lines that make maximum usage of her acerbic humor and always underappreciated dramatic skills. Technical specs: aspect ratio: Widescreen (1.85.1/1080p), audio: English, French and Portuguese (DTS-HD MA 5.1), Thai (Dolby Digital 5.1), subtitles: English and seven others. Special Features: • Making-of featurette • Cast/filmmaker Q&A • Cast/filmmaker commentaries (Sony Classics, $34.99)
COMING SOON TO OWN • “Black Mass” (Feb. 16) — Johnny Depp stars as Boston-mob figure James “Whitey” Bulger, an informant for an FBI agent and childhood friend (Joel Edgerton). (R) • “Steve Jobs” (Feb. 16) — Michael Fassbender portrays the Apple co-founder and CEO in director Danny Boyle and writer Aaron Sorkin’s drama. (R) • “Fargo: Year Two” (Feb. 23) — A young couple (Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons) is caught up in larceny in the FX series’ sophomore round; Patrick Wilson and Ted Danson also star. (Not rated) • “Secret in Their Eyes” (Feb. 23) — Years after her daughter’s murder, a sleuth (Julia Roberts) is stunned by new information about the crime; Nicole Kidman and Chiwetel Ejiofor also star. (PG-13: AS, P, V) • “The Night Before” (March 1) — Three pals (Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anthony Mackie) seek the biggest party they can find on Christmas Eve. (R) • “Childhood’s End” (March 1) — The Arthur C. Clarke story puts Earth under the control of seemingly peaceful aliens; Mike Vogel, Daisy Betts and Charles Dance star. (Not rated) • “Room” (March 1) — A woman and her young son (Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay) are confined to a single room by a captor in this much-acclaimed drama. (R) • “Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series” (March 22) — The cult-classic show, about a Detroit high school circa 1980, makes its Blu-ray debut and features Seth Rogen and James Franco. (Not rated)
• “Macbeth” (March 8) — Michael Fassbender portrays Shakespeare’s legendary character in this latest of the play’s screen adaptations; Marion Cotillard plays Lady Macbeth. (R)