Brothers Joel & Ethan Coen have been lauded for their unique approach to filmmaking. They are well known for covering multiple genres – often whether one movie – with smooth transitions when addressing topics. Upon receiving the Best Picture for Oscar with No Country for Old Men, the brothers thanked the Academy for allowing them to “play in (their) corner of the sandbox,” and their movie techniques continue to be praised by critics and moviegoers alike.

The Coens’ latest film, Hail, Caesar!, is a comedy told in the brothers’ unique style. It’s a 1950s “film-within-a-film” about a Hollywood film studio, and how its head of production struggles with the pressure of overseeing several productions, while keeping potentially embarrassing secrets about the actors under wraps. When the star of the studio’s epic drama goes missing, the studio head’s efforts to locate him take a humorous turn.

Coen brothers films have employed certain types of “Coen-isms”; much like the way Quentin Tarantino sticks to casting certain films in most, if not all, of his films, the Coens do the same. George Clooney portrays the kidnapped star actor masterfully, while Tilda Swinton excels playing twin rival newspaper writers, one trying to establish herself as more than a tabloid gossip columnist, while the other embraces that role. Other actors also perform very well; Josh Brolin, as the studio’s head of production, portrays a man cool under pressure despite receiving offers for a more prestigious job unrelated to the film industry. Alden Ehrenreich succeeds playing a Western-style actor (some websites referring to his character as a “Kirby Grant-type”) who tries to change his image by appearing in more dramatic films. Channing Tatum also does well as an actor who typically appears in musicals, a Gene Kelly-sort of character.

The film makes seamless transitions addressing different topics. The main topic to the plot deals with Communism and the Red Scare that gripped much of the country, and especially the film industry, throughout the 1940s and 50s. It also showcases the state of the film industry during this period of change, as television sets slowly but surely began finding their way into American homes, and how movie studios brainstormed new ways to continue drawing huge crowds.

Overall, Hail, Caesar! is a film well put together. For those who are unfamiliar with the Coen brothers’ work, it may not be the best way to introduce their style of filmmaking, but fans will appreciate the production elements that could potentially make it a Coen brothers classic.