Ep. 9: Hail Caesar! Roundtable with Alex Robertson, David Johnson, DMD and Roseanne Caputi

On this week’s Fabulous Film & Friends our roundtable will be completing the second part of a matched set we started with last episode’s discussion of Joel and Ethan Coen’s Hudsucker Proxy, as we review their other lavish, 1950’s-set extravaganza, 2016’s Hail Caesar!. 

Returning for this thrilling follow up is a name over 200 podcast listeners trust, my younger sister Roseanne Caputi.  Then there’s the most doggedly truth-seeking pediatric dentist ever to set up shop in Salt Lake City, David Johnson, DMD. 

And back again in the official Paul Lynde Center Square is Actor, Voice Artist, photobug and funnyman, GORDON ALEX ROBERTSON!

Hail Caesar! follows a day in the life of Hollywood Studio fixer Eddie Mannix as he shepherds a menagerie of actors, directors, and publicity hounds, keeping them out of trouble, motivated and happy during several productions in the studio’s line up. Meanwhile on the set of Mannix’s most expensive endeavor, a Tale of the Christ also entitled Hail Caesar, lead actor Baird Whitlock has been kidnapped by a group of Communists. And on a personal level, the scrupulous Mannix struggles with lying to his wife about his cigarette habit and must decide whether he will leave the chaos of Capitol Studios for the greener pastures of a cushy, serious-minded job at Lockheed Martin. 

As with Hudsucker Proxy, I first saw the film in less-than-ideal circumstances: on a plane bound for India in the summer of 2016, after missing the film in theaters once again-- something I rarely do with Coen Brothers movies. It should be noted that I missed two of their most visually spectacular films on the big screen and seeing Hail Caesar! amidst the din and flight attendants’ interruptions of a plane voyage, I lost a lot of lines and nuance of the film, and yet I still loved it. 

Upon first seeing it, I declared on social media that you couldn’t find a more Catholic message of self-sacrifice and mortification in a mainstream Hollywood film  than if the film was bankrolled by the Vatican itself.   Another  voice in the roundtable couldn't  help but notice a strong Kierkegaardian/existentialist worldview to this largely ignored and/or dismissed film and we all delve into the significance of the story as presented.

What’s the lowdown on the street? 

Find out!

#hailcaesar!
#joshbrolin
#hollywood
#fabulousfilmandfriends

Note: Actor Max Baker played the lead Communist in Hail Caesar! I mistakenly guessed his name was Mark Baker in the podcast. Either way, a fantastic performance.