What seemingly appeared to be one of the first of the New Year’s best films from a very celebrated pair of brothers in company has shockingly turned out to be their weakest work to date.

Hail, Caesar is a slapstick period piece dated somewhere in the 1950s and from, you guessed it, the Coen Brothers, who are notorious for their old school approach to American cinema while dabbing each new effort with a bit of deviance that either hits the nail on the head or completely misses the mark with viewers.

Hail, Caesar, unfortunate to say, leans mostly toward the latter. Their new feature centers on a day in the life of Josh Brolin’s Eddie Mannix, an enforcer of sorts for the fictional Capitol One Pictures and the agents and artists affiliated.

While the film sets up various subplots that show promise in tying in to the central plot, this is all thwarted due to how there is barely any attention or sincerity paid towards the film’s own central plot concerning a kidnapped leading man, Baird Whitlock (George Clooney).

Compared to one of the Coen’s most recent and more hilarious capers like Burn After Reading; Hail, Caesar should not get the same treatment because not all of Hollywood culture can be taken as humorously—which needs much knowledge of that culture—as the Coen’s might expect from their audience, not to mention avoiding the obviousness of the situations in that culture.

When it is a more serious and relatively unpredictable set up like Burn After Reading’s “leaked CIA file at a local Gym in Virginia state plotline,” then there is much more that can be toyed with when conjuring a good comedy (Coen style), given how ridiculous that premise would already be.

While Hail, Caesar is able to hold a couple of good laughs for viewers, it’s just not enough to fulfill the blatantly empty movie itself. It is okay to branch off and meander through various subplots, but it becomes a problem when the main story is completely forsaken just to be passed off as what really seems like a “little accident” for the main character.

The issue presented to Brolin’s Mannix concerning Whitlock’s kidnapping seems awkward.

For a movie that sets this up as the pivotal layout, the Coens sure do a bang up job at not treating it like one, while at the same time juggling other side stories involving Scarlett Johansson as a pregnant showgirl for a production piece, Ralph Fiennes as a straight arrow director, Channing Tatum as a musical performer (the most random role), and Tilda Swinton as basically a fictional Hedda Hopper, and her, twin, none of who have any real relevance whatsoever to what could have been an interesting kidnapping.

And believe me, the motive behind the kidnapping of Baird on the surface is interesting, but apparently the Coens don’t seem to take it that way. We are really only given a glimpse into the nature of the kidnapper’s intentions for Baird, which is really just to make off with a hundred grand. Whitlock’s abductors are Communists and I think maybe non-Communists as well?

Really, they are just screen writers and political philosophers that have some Communist background or influence but are just neglected by the studios that hire them, claiming they are bankrupted of not only their salaries but their own ideas for the sake of sensation. Now this would have made for an interesting extension of the film’s plot.

But instead, we get no real explanation for anything else that happens other than the “Communists” just need the money regardless of all the exposition behind their plan and not really making a statement against the corrupt studios.

Another way the movie sorely lacks is an explanation as to why in general these stars are in a movie playing stars if they aren’t really partial at all to the main story, while only getting a couple of minutes of screen time with banter for better or worse, especially for a flick that is only an hour and a half.

The only real thing the Coen’s seem to make you want to ponder is whether or not Mannix should stick to his job as a commanding officer of an entire studio’s populace of talent, or if he should take into consideration the welfare of his family.

Well, if you ever find out for yourself, you’ll get why the Coen’s should know better than this.

The metaphorical title I will give kudos to though, because Mannix himself is practically personified as if he is the Emperor of Capitol One. All in all, Hail, Caesar is a misstep for the delightfully talented Coens.

Here’s to hoping they put a little more care into future projects and not as much fluff to veil dishonesty, something of which they rarely ever do.

6.5/10. Hail, Caesar is now playing everywhere and is PG-13 (for some suggestive content and smoking).