Hail, Caesar! ... A hell of a tribute to the movie industry

From the brilliant mind behind classics in cinema history comes their new film that can't be more accesible to commercial crowds, with a very light plot and a goofy sense of humor that brings on screen a A list cast that includes George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton among others, the cohen brothers pay tribute to movies and their industry, with a pace that feels more Andersonian than their most popular thrillers and other brilliant comedies, the best way to reflect what's behind the screen and along the process of a movie making than a movie itself based on the golden era for movies, back in the 50's where the cold war was not only in the news but was something alive, part of everyone's life and a feeling that turn into paranoia among every industry and citizen of the country back then, but what would be of a war without the magic of movies and entertainment? How can spies, thieves and prostitutes can make it through it and success in life without the enlightening power of entertainment spotlighting them as heroes and survivors, becoming a thing before being judge or criticized.

All this and more is "Hail, Caesar!" (2016), which takes it's on title from one of the multiple movies of Capital Studios, than as one of many metaphors, represents all what capitalism means, proving than here as in any other industry the goal is not about movies and making art, innovate or transcend, it's all about the money. The movie industry turnes cinema from one of the biggest and most popular arts in the world into a money maker, a way to produce and export a product that sells itself as art and pure entertainment to become just a way to expand all kinds of income and using marketing and celebrities to dell it, it all goes back to the basics. And so the movie follows the story of a problem fixer man from the studio along 24 hrs when he faces the fact that his main star of the new movie has been kidnapped by an unknown group that asks for a ransom that will be offered to the Communism as this group is full of old people devoted to it, when their job as writers for studios is not paying back what they think is well deserved and because they are now part of  something bigger than themselves, that has left them aside, as a group of miscast looking for redemption and some kind of fame.

While this man follows the clues to find his star, he will run into other problems like the new order from one of the big heads to include an action hero, a super star that is popular among the fans and his stupid and simple movies are making more money than others, to jump into drama and become a real actor, when he barely knows how to speak, making this a big problem for his new director, a well known and visionary one that sees his career in risk after this decision leading him to skip art and his own signature for films to make use of editing and deliver the kind of product that others are expecting from him. Now that sounds kind of familiar, right? How many of us are trapped in an office or a job that just asks for us a check list that has to be done without questions and putting behind any new ideas or personal perspective just to satisfied a need for others.

And continuing with his long day, dealing with reporters seeking for gossips and attempting to publish the news about his missing celebrity, he jumps from one place to other where all kind of movies are in process, musicals and fantasy, dramas and epics, only remembering that time where movies were out of FX and only using simple basic for film making that turned a decade into an era where  movie was seen for millions and usually became classics, and the surprise effect was there as that feeling of being watching something more human and simple, not only full of violence and explosions, using sexual content to bring more people to the theaters but delivering what was current for that time, like politics and religion. two facts that should never been discussed over dinner but on screen they get a new perspective and power leading people to one side or the other and also becoming a very sensitive point due to a time where people still believed in a god and language and traditions were very subjective for that nature. A perfect time now for reflection and compare what are we watching these days and realizing what's the meaning we use for quality now over the last century.

But nothing would be better to evolve and move society than movies. A way to expose new ideas, transform people into believers and explore new worlds and emotions just to realize that all those people we are following and we admire on screen, are so different in real life that we barely know them. How our most beloved dancer and hunky star can be leading a new political revolution that will turn the country into a different world or the most beautiful and talented actress is just a puppet behind curtains where she will re married the new guy in order to play the cards of fame and get the benefits of a life with insurance. And sometimes the less talented turns to be the most real of all of them, but at the end what matters of all of them is who gets the more money and how getting through people's emotions, ideals, believes, we can transform society into a better or worse place and at the same time will make moments that will last forever like a dreams machine where what really matters is what is actually happening behind the camera, in the editing room, at the screening room, in the parking lot, or maybe at someone'sieac house where writers and celebrities will exchange stories just realizing at the end that no one knows who created who, the writer to the character, or the actor to inspire the writer?, maybe we'll never know but that's the magic of movies and they never looked bater and felt so human and funny than now, looking back to them.