Working as a fixer in Hollywood Capitrlelo Pictures, Eddie Mannix, a smart man, who struggles against making things well in his work while following actors, production, cast, and all about filmmaking, but when he has to find an actor that mysteriously disappeared.
There are many, many moments in Hail, Caesar! that work great, are funny in the way that only the Coens can be funny, and capture the mood of the era perfectly.
The Coen brothers' new comedy isn't quite an homage to 1950s Hollywood, but it's not a spoof of it either -- it strikes that tone of crisp drollness that's their specialty and that some people misread as aloofness or contempt. But it's not.
The Coens, for once, aren't interested in plot at all, instead choosing to luxuriate in the styles of yesteryear. Johansson and Channing Tatum get to do glamorous musical numbers; Clooney has a ball with his swords-and-sandals epic.
The more 1950s movies a person has seen and the greater their love for Hollywood of 60+ years ago, the greater their appreciation will be of what Joel and Ethan have brought to the screen.
If Llewyn Davis was about an artist learning to appreciate and collaborate with his audience, this reminds us that before the Coens were movie makers, they were movie watchers.
