Clooney's character, actor Baird Whitlock, isn't actually the main character in this, that honor belongs to Josh Brolin's Eddie Mannix. Mannix is a "fixer" at 1950s Hollywood studio Capitol Pictures, whose job it is to keep all his directors and actors happy and out of gossip-worthy trouble. When Baird Whitlock gets kidnapped off the set of the latest religious epic, Mannix chooses to quietly pay off the ransom. I won't mention who the kidnapping group turn out to be, as that reveal leads to some of the best material in this movie.
As many stars as there are on the Coens' poster, most of them don't show up for more than a scene or two, and relative unknown Alden Ehrenreich gets almost as much screen time as Clooney. Ehrenreich plays an actor who talents are well suited to stunt-filled westerns, but struggles when cast in Laurence Laurentz's (Ralph Fiennes) costume drama. Scarlett Johannsen is an Esther Williams type whose pregnancy throws Mannix into reputation-protection mode. Channing Tatum is a performer in a navy musical whose dance scene is truly stunning. Also among them: Tilda Swinton as twin reporters (one for a legit paper and one for a gossip rag), Frances McDormand as a film editor, and Jonah Hill in a cameo I feel I shouldn't say a word about. While Mannix is putting out fires all over Capitol Pictures, he's also being tempted to leave the studio and join the Lockheed Corportation.
I'm pretty confident that I haven't revealed anything that would take away from one's enjoyment of Hail, Caesar! because most of the humor comes from how these situations unfold and intersect. You might have to had seen movies from that bygone era to appreciate some of the jokes, but I think there's something for everyone. This isn't the best comedy the Coen brothers have made but that's a high bar; I do think it will stand as one of the funniest of 2016.
