Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson, Ralph Fiennes
I’m a Coen Brothers fan and this is one of my favourites amongst their work.
It’s set in post-war Hollywood, where familiar styles of movie are being made, and where Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is an old-style fixer trying to make the stars and the press do what the studios want them to. Mannix isn’t a bad guy but he spends a lot of time in confession, too much in fact according to the priest.
There’s a Roman epic, a Berkley-style synch swimming movie, and a navy-on-shore-leave musical all being made, plus some singing cowboy stuff starring Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich). The studio are trying to turn Hobie into a romantic lead using director Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes) but all Hobie is really good with are lassoos and horses. He admits it’s much tougher talking to people.
The overall plot is almost incidental, the kidnapping of studio star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) by a group of self-confessed Communist writers. Dumb hunk Baird is soon temporarily converted to the Commie cause. It’s one of George Clooney’s best comic performances, he doesn’t go overboard as he sometimes does.
It’s the individual scenes which really appeal, very funny but not too far over the top. A pretty good number with singing sailors, DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johnasson) diving in amongst a circle of bathing belles. There’s a great scene with representatives of various religious faiths having an theological argument.
Scarlett plays a brassy starlet, and Tilda Swinton is impressive as twin gossip columnists. It’s packed with good lines and like many of the Coen Brothers movies will probably be rewarding if viewed several times.
