Hail, Caesar! review

The Coen Brothers latest film takes place in Hollywood during the 50’s at a time when big studios strictly controlled the lives of their actors. It follows Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), head of production at Capitol Pictures, as he tries to keep the scandalous behaviour of his stars out of the press whilst also trying to fend off job offers from the Lockheed Corporation.

When big star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) is kidnapped during the production of the studio’s new prestige piece Hail, Caesar! A Tale of the Christ, Mannix enlists the help of Western actor Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich) to find him.

Hail, Caesar! contains everything you’d expect from a Coen Brothers film: colourful characters, references to classic films of yore, and dollops of tongue in cheek humour.

A sharp script is buoyed by perfectly judged performances from Brolin, Clooney, Eherenreich and a brassy but all too brief turn from Scarlet Johansson as an actress/synchronised swimmer.

If there’s one thing wrong with Hail, Caesar! it’s the persistent feeling that one is watching a sample from a bigger, more ambitious movie. The film’s amusingly outlandish plot seems stifled 

by the gilded trappings of the Hollywood movies it both lampoons and pays tribute to. Indeed, some of the daring shifts in tone seen in other films by the brothers, such as Fargo and Inside Llewyn Davis, would not have gone amiss.

Hail, Caesar! is a worthy addition to the Coen Brothers canon but it is far from their best.

Star Rating: 3/5

The Best Films of 2015: Sicario

Denis Villeneuve’s thriller follows FBI agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) as she is drafted into a task force set up to tackle the Mexican drug cartels. There she meets the uncompromising Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) and the mysterious but very knowledgeable Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro).

As Kate is drawn into a shadowy world where the lines between friend and foe are difficult to see, she finds her ideals challenged by the actions of those around her.

Sicario – which means ‘hitman’ in Spanish – is a tense and well-constructed thriller with a message. Its commentary on the drug war in Mexico is well thought out and not merely a bolted on extra serving to justify gunfights and action sequences, as can often be seen in thrillers that appropriate real-world situations in order to give themselves a ‘serious’ edge.

The film’s cast also give their very best with Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro being particularly noteworthy.

For a more comprehensive review check out the write up I did for the film during its initial release:

Or you can just go and watch the film. Your time will not be wasted if you do.

Sicario review

The opening text of Sicario reveals that the word refers to ancient Jewish zealots and is also the Spanish for ‘assassin.’ Why this is relevant is only made painfully clear towards the film’s end.

The plot of director Denis Villeneuve’s fifth feature sees FBI agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) drafted into a special task force to help take down a Mexican drug cartel. This task force is headed up by the shady pairing of defence adviser Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) and Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro). As the campaign against the cartel intensifies, Macer finds her ideals challenged by the brutal and unorthodox methods of those around her.

Sicario works as both a thriller and a commentary on the drug war consuming Mexico. In its depiction of the actions of the cartels and of the law enforcement agencies trying to combat them, the film pulls no punches. In one scene, Kate is driven past a bridge from which the dismembered bodies of the cartel’s victims hang. Although she is shocked, the agent with her can only speak admiringly of the cartel’s terror tactics and call them ‘brilliant.’

The idea that Kate is entering a different world with a very different set of rules to those she is used to is continually emphasised with Alejandro telling her: ‘This is the land of wolves now.’

Villeneuve also makes use of an interesting device by presenting us with a separate storyline running in parallel to the main one. In this, we see a Mexican police officer called Silvio as he recovers from his night shifts and interacts with his family. The true significance of this storyline is not clear until the film’s end yet it adds a different and very human perspective to the central narrative.

Another thing that makes Sicario effective is the strength of its performances: Emily Blunt is convincing and likeable as the protagonist, Josh Brolin is appropriately aloof and obnoxious, and Benicio Del Toro weaves a portrait of a restrained but rage-filled man whose true motivations remain a mystery until the film’s dénouement. Indeed, it is Del Toro who stands out the most and in his performance as Alejandro we certainly have a worthy contender for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars.

Thought provoking, unrelenting, and brutal: Sicario may just be one of the most interesting films released this year.

Star Rating: 5/5