This new comedy from the Coen brothers features an all-star cast including Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Ralph Fiennes, Channing Tatum, Tilda Swinton, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Aiden Ehrenreich, and Jonah Hill. The film follows a day in the life of Eddie Mannix (Brolin), the manager of a major Hollywood studio in the late 1950s. This day is particularly hectic at Capitol Pictures, and some of the many problems that Mannix must "fix" include the abduction of a celebrity actor (Clooney) by a group of blacklisted communist writers; the tension between a director (Fiennes) known for sophisticated period dramas and an inexperienced Western movie actor (Ehnrenreich) contracted to star in his latest film; and the constant badgering of twin gossip columnists (Swinton, playing both roles) for insider scoop. I really enjoyed that the film takes place over the course of one day, making it fast-paced and high-energy. However, I thought that there were too many different mini-story lines - some of them seemed wholly unnecessary and didn't actually add anything to the overarching plot - which took screen time away from the more important ones, which is a shame. There are many moments of laugh-out-loud humour, and the fancy director-amateur cowboy arc was particularly great. As a whole, though, the film wasn't very consistent at bringing the laughs (on account of those aforementioned unnecessary bits). This film really had the potential to be extraordinary, perhaps one of the best films about Old Hollywood of recent times, but the finished product just didn't completely "click". Nonetheless, it was still pretty entertaining and worth a watch.
Should you see it: Yes
Grade: B+
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