'Hail, Caesar' is one big frothy inside joke and I liked it

George Clooney in Hail, Caesar

The Coen brothers like to alternate between their darker, more brooding fare and the occasional goofball throwaway. Their latest, Hail, Caesar, falls into that latter category.

I have always been a big fan of their silly movies. Although a couple have fallen flat for me, I think their broad comedies always get better with time.

For instance The Big Lebowski was dismissed by most critics and bombed when it first came out. And today, it remains one of their most beloved movies.

I have the sneaking suspicion that Hail, Caesar will earn more fans over time. It's languid rhythms are more of an acquired taste, and it's meandering plot is not the most accessible. Essentially it's a low key comedy mood piece, spoofing an era which will only be familiar to film buffs.

The movie recreates the waning days of the old studio system, when stars' pregnancies, affairs and addictions were covered up by fixers who worked in cahoots with the press and police. Josh Brolin plays the deadpan hero, but without the kind of signature quirks of typical Coen protagonists.

He's overshadowed by George Clooney, playing a buffoonish movie star, Channing Tatum, who has a showstopping dance number that will delight even the film's detractors and newcomer Alden Ehrenreich who gives a breakthrough performance as a dimwitted star of big screen westerns. The plot, involved a Communist kidnapping plot.

Ralph Fiennes has a small but sensational bit as a pompous director -- this guy can really do comedy. But Jonah Hill and Scarlett Johansson are pretty wasted in a subplot that doesn't really go anywhere.

But the Coens are too smart to make just a straight comedy mystery. They are clearly making sly commentary on the way the film industry still functions and the absurdity of extreme radicalism. It's not particularly heavy handed and there's not a ton of depth, but it's always watchable and frequently quite hilarious.

It's also a visual delight. When the Coens do a period picture they don't spare any expense, and from the costumes to the shot selection, this is a film that is firmly self aware. Still, I am not sure where it ranks within the Coen canon, and I would be shocked if it finds a big audience, because it's a little too self consciously clever and it is more witty than laugh out loud funny.

The audience I saw it with seemed primed for a riotous good time -- and it's not that type of movie. It's more a series of vignettes, and some are better than others, but they do work as a whole in yet another pastiche of Coen craziness.