Seattle Times | ‘Hail, Caesar’ Review
Seattle Times
The Coens-on-holiday comedy “Hail, Caesar!,” set in 1951 Hollywood, sparkles with star turns — so much so that you get a little dizzy keeping up. George Clooney, as egotistic (and not particularly brainy) leading man Baird Whitlock, strides through the film in Roman sandals, a mini-tunic and a not-quite-caught-up expression. Scarlett Johansson, as an Esther Williams-ish swimming starlet who witheringly refers to her mermaid tail as a “fish ass.” Tilda Swinton as twin gossip columnists — each desperate to out-scoop the other, each so tightly wound that the feathers on their hats seem like quivering antennae. Alden Ehrenreich, charmingly dorky as a young star of cowboy Westerns, unable to cope when he’s tossed into an elegant drawing-room comedy directed by the very demanding Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes, perfection). (Grandly asked to deliver a “mirthless chuckle,” Ehrenreich’s Hobie can only offer a snort.)
