HAIL, CAESAR!

There are more stars in this film than you can count on your hands and feet combined. Further to those already mentioned, you have Ralph Fiennes as the esteemed director Laurence Laurentz, Frances McDormand as the whip-smart editor C. C. Calhoun, Channing Tatum as the all-singing, all-dancing star Burt Gurney, Jonah Hill as the studio's cover-up man Joseph Silverman, Alison Pill as Mannix's very understanding wife, and Michael Gambon as the film's narrator. Without exception, the cast relish their roles with the utmost respect to a bygone era of filmmaking. A lot of fun is to be had with the scenarios, and at no point does anyone drop the ball.

The look of the film is also vital to its success; Joel and Ethan Coen, along with cinematographer Roger Deakins and the entire set and costume team, have crafted a film that appears to be pulled straight from the 1950s. Attention to detail is superb, particularly when the audience is observing a film within a film.

The story is something of a curiosity. With Mannix's work creating the overarching foundation, we jump between vignettes, getting an overview of a variety of dilemmas he's faced with. Through this, we find rich and well-developed characters and some spectacular musical numbers and cinematic sequences. Yet as a whole, the plot never really develops - we come out with a resolution at the end of the film, yet seem to have retraced our steps back to the beginning of the story.

There's a real classic feel to 'Hail, Caesar!'; the best way to describe it is 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' meets 'Singin' In The Rain'. The film is visually superb, entertaining, star-studded, and yet lacks a substantial storyline. Nonetheless, it's the perfect kind of escapism guaranteed to take you back to a time when, at least on the surface, Hollywood appeared pure and perfect.