Hail, Caesar!

Joel and Ethan Coen's unashamed screwball comedy is a dizzy hooray to Hollywood. Josh Brolin does great, stoic work as a studio fixer in 1950s Burbank whose headaches over a 24-hour period include the kidnapping of star performer George Clooney, a spat with highly strung English director Ralph Fiennes and the pregnancy of Scarlett Johansson's unmarried musical mermaid. In place of a cohesive plot we get a plate-spinning exercise, but a thrilling and frequently hilarious one. Aided by cinematographer Roger Deakins, costumier Mary Zophres and composer Carter Burwell, the Coens re-create the CinemaScope age before our very eyes, with pitch-perfect movie parodies, including two flawless dance routines, one led by a cheerily homoerotic Channing Tatum in a sailor suit. It may not have a lot to say - other than: hey, the movies are just swell - but it's all executed with true love.