Review| Hail, Caesar!

Fulfillment is an elusive quality. Whether it be in one’s family or career, finding satisfaction in what you’re doing can be fleeting. Maybe you’re feeling great about it one day, then the next things begin falling apart. Insecurity about whether you’re doing what you should be doing is tough enough to get through. But when a smooth-talking young executive from Lockheed Martin tries to steal away your talents for something with greater importance and impact, it’s tough to say no.

We follow Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) through the Coen Brothers latest film, “Hail, Caesar!“, as he balances the challenges of his job, the needs of his family, his own moral failings and the constant efforts to bring him into the aeronautics business. Eddie works for Capitol Pictures and is in charge of basically everything besides actually making the films. Eddie handles all the problems. When the melodramatic director Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes) has to mold the line-bumbling cowboy Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich) into a sophisticated Englishman, Eddie handles the backlash. He handles damage control when the twin gossip columnists (both played by Tilda Swinton) threaten to publish the latest rumors about his big star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney). When blonde bombshell Deanna Boran (Scarlett Johansson) reveals her out-of-wedlock pregnancy in an era where such a thing would be a public shame, Eddie is the one who arranges a scenario where she can keep her child and her reputation. Despite all these spinning plates to balance, or more likely because of them, the first place we find Eddie is in the confession booth.

Deep down, Eddie feels like something of a failure. As though what he’s doing is distracting from more important things in life like being a good husband and father. He feels a heavy conviction for smoking a few cigarettes and lying to his wife about it. He feels regret over missing his sons ballgames and always being home late, requiring his wife to reheat dinner for him. He’s asking for forgiveness for these things that many wouldn’t bat an eye at. So when a Lockheed Martin recruiter comes calling on him and pitches it as a more important job with less hassles and drama, it appeals to something he’s already feeling. If we’re viewing this with our Christian goggles on, this is pretty clearly a ‘Satan in the desert’ style temptation. But Eddie resists. In fact, he’s instinctively defensive of his craft and the art he helps produce. Behind all this stuff that others view as a hassle, Eddie sees a productive effort in managing the busy and often bizarre issues of Hollywood. And really, he’s exactly the type of guy we want in that position. We want someone with a moral backbone and the conviction to see a thing through and do what’s right. Or at least what’s best. He handles with clockwork precision what we in the audience are spinning our wheels to keep up with.

The Coens are good at this. We’re watching sailors dancing, mermaids swimming, communists scheming, Romans crucifying and cowboys singing, all the while a single story of struggle and discovery is laid out almost in the background. Not so dissimilar from Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? in how busy it is while weaving a central theme underneath it all. There are so many nice tangents from our main story that, at the time, feel like we’re breaking away from anything to do with Eddie, but by the end they each play their own part, however small, in the way he reaches his final conclusion about his job; it’s worth doing. He has a talent for managing people and circumstances. He’s using that talent to the best of his abilities, whereas in many other jobs he may be little more than a pencil-pusher. Therein lies a lesson that we learn through Eddie that scripture also confirms.

Doing a thing to the best of our abilities and using our talents to maximize our efforts. In this life we’re equipped with no specific amount or level of talents. These talents, or abilities, are such that we only discover them when we put forth the effort to do so. Whatever it is we set our mind to do, we are to do it as though it were for the Lord. This is our effective call in worship, as Paul described to the Colossians, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” (Col. 3:17). It’s also an expectation of us in everyday life. Maybe you hate your job or feel it’s somewhat useless. Okay, I get that. Paul was a tent-maker. Do you think he ever wondered if that was the best use of his time? I can’t imagine it not crossing his mind. But if you’ll notice, he didn’t quit doing that once the call to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth was placed on him. But even in that venture, he did it for the Lord. How much more then shall we do so when we’re signing documents, hammering nails, driving trucks or whatever it may be.

If you’re familiar with Coen-comedy or their often understated approach to central themes, then I think you’ll find a lot to like in Hail, Caesar!. There’s a hilarious scene where Eddie is consulting with a Rabbi, a Catholic priest, an orthodox priest and a protestant pastor about the nature of Jesus as depicted in the studios central film. Alden Ehrenreich nearly steals the show with his passively innocent Hobie Doyle and his just-happy-to-be-here attitude. There’s a lot to be said about communism vs capitalism that at times feels like a joke and others feels like a built-in rant against the system at large. But, if you’re not familiar with the Coen’s then much of this may fly over your head and you’ll be left wondering what you just watched. For my part, while I did enjoy the movie I felt it was a tad too busy. Not that the Coen’s sacrificed their central character or message with it all. I do think you still get a strong sense for that their aiming for with Eddie Mannix. Some of these extra spectacles are so good they could be mini-films in themselves. The potential bonus material on the Blu-ray release of this are endless!