Hail, Caesar!

I have seen several Coen brothers films, with Fargo being a highlight. This film is just, odd.
Josh Brolin is great as the head of a fictional studio, Capitol Studios. He has too many different problems which he must juggle at the same time. The film has the same problem. Brolin's character, Eddie Mannix must bail out a drunken star, and deal with several religious officials on whether the studio's big budget picture is representing the Christ figure properly. And that's just the beginning. The Esther Williams-Lana Turner type star, DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johannson) is pregnant and won't marry again because she has had two failed marriages and refuses to marry another smuck. And then, the Western star, Hobey Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich) has just been cast in his first dramatic performance and it is not going well, to the dismay of director Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes). If that isn't enough, Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), a huge star if he is a drunkard and womanizer, gets kidnapped by two extras, sending his film's production into a tailspin. It can't afford to shut down, not even for a single day so the race to find him is on.
The film turns out differently than I ever expected. Baird is taken to a lovely beach-side home where he is lectured by a group of scholars and former Hollywood screenwriters who have since scorned the industry, never seeing a penny their penned films have made. They are now Communists and are attempting to persuade Baird to join their side, which they do easily as Baird isn't particularly bright. In fact, he even wants a cut of his own ransom. Ironically, the group is lead by Mickey-Rooneyesque star, Bert (Channing Tatum) who loves his dog and willingly goes over to the Russians, never to be seen from again.
While meeting with Mannix, Hobey is informed of the devastating event and informs him to look at the extras, because they can run both ways. This turns out to be solid advice. Later that evening, while out on a set-up studio date with Carlota Valdez (Veronica Osorio), he sees the over-stuffed briefcase with the ransom money and follows the money. For whatever reason, at the beach house, the Communists have left Baird alone so Hobey is simply able to take him and get him to a hotel, too late to go home to his wife.
This leaves Eddie able to tell DeeAnna able the ludicrous plan for her to surrender her baby and then, adopt it back. Jonah Hill is Joseph Silverstein, a cameo of a role, as one of the guys the studio has on budget to take the fall for mistakes that the big stars commit. Fortunately, he turns up the winner. He ends up getting married to DeeAnna, so she fortunately won't have to adopt her own baby.
Baird tries to say to Eddie that Communism is good but Eddie slaps him back into place, saying that the studio made him and he's an actor so he can't badmouth the hand that feeds him. Baird reports back to work and gives a rousing final speech. Life has returned to normal, mostly.
Despite being an interesting, funny film, it just doesn't gel together, with abrupt shifts between the too-many plot lines, and big studio productions, which only please the eye and do nothing really to develop character or move the plot along. Thank goodness the acting is good, with Ehrenreich and Brolin being the stand-outs. This film tries to be a message film but if it is, I don't know completely what the message is. That being said, I did largely enjoy the film and will probably watch it again. Grade: B