Narrowly avoiding awards season and landing in the middle of a glut of less exciting propositions, the latest Coen brothers comedy has a somewhat concerning February bow.
But Hail, Caesar! has a tantalising cast (George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johansson, Josh Brolin) and a fun setting (1950s Hollywood) and the second trailer is a pleasingly daring and amusing sequence.
Ralph Fiennes plays a director trying to get his star to recite a line with the requisite class but struggles, repeatedly, to get the reading he so desires. It’s a funny, if familiar, joke and promises another solid Fiennes comic turn alongside his performances in The Grand Budapest Hotel and next month’s A Bigger Splash.
The overriding plot sees Brolin play an industry fixer who is tasked with tracking down a kidnapped movie star, played by Clooney.
Hail, Caesar! is set to open the Berlin film festival next month, after its release on 5 February in the US and before its 4 March UK release. It’s a mixed blessing for the film given the varying quality and impact of films that have previously had the slot. While last year’s Nobody Wants the Night sank without a trace, previous openers such as The Grand Budapest Hotel and True Grit have also achieved success at the Oscars.
