By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Ethan Coen | Joel Coen
Starring: Frances McDormand | George Clooney | Josh Brolin | RalphFiennes | Scarlett Johansson | Tilda Swinton
Country: japan, united_kingdom, united_states
Year: 2016
Running time: 106
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475290/
Thom says: “The Coen Brothers have had a long, steady run of super-loved films that they have directed and they very rarely fail to hit my highest rating so that this palpably fun film didn’t achieve that fantastic distinction is slightly worrisome. But, truth to tell, this pretty bauble is still worth seeing with so many eye-popping wonders that the slight script is only a minor annoyance. It’s a loving paean to 50’s Hollywood that plays for side-splitting laughs and gratefully there are enough of those. There are some delightful song & dance numbers as well that are spunky spoofs, although, be that as it may, the dancing is far superior to the music. Eddie Mannix (Brolin) a big studio fixer has a day from Hell as he juggles set problems, off-studio disasters, star tantrums, and much more. His Esther Williams-like star (why did they stop making those wonderful Busby Berkeley water ballets?) turns up pregnant and not married. To top it off his biggest male star Baird Whitlock (an hilarious Clooney, who is superb making fun of himself, is kidnapped by a group of disgruntled, older Communists who got screwed by the Studio System. But none of them look like they could hurt a fly and in fact their focused, reasoned arguments even win Whitlock over. Funnier still is the thrilling Tilda Swinton as Thora Thacker & Thessaly Thacker, twin Hollywood gossip columnists that can make or break careers, and who absolutely loathe each other.
“The individual superb scenes are offset by some disjointed turns, and while all the hip references are decidedly clever the film has very little real drama. Occasionally the film was too flippant. But I loved so much of it that I do highly recommend it. I was so taken with two of its lesser known talents that I wanted to take special note of Alden Ehrenreich as the Gene Autrey character that needs to class it up as his country good looks have no refinement, he’s really game though. I’ve seen Ehrenrich in some high quality films like STOKER & BLUE JASMINE, although this was the first time he jumped out. Just as good is Heather Goldenhersh as the beleaguered secretary Natalie, so aware of never making a mistake that she’s a nervous wreck, rather like Agnes Gooch in AUNTIE MAME (#1 film of 1958 on some lists). That they can match strides with Clooney, Swinton, McDormand, Fiennes, Gambon, Johansson, Tatum, Brolin, & Hill says volumes about their future careers. I love the Coens sense of film repertoire. 4.5 cats”