Hail, Caesar! is a secret musical.
Tuesday, February 9, 2016 at 11:30PM If you didn't catch the Coen brothers Hail, Caesar! this weekend it might surprise you to hear that it could actually be categorized as a musical. No, not a full blown musical with a good portion of their narrative emerging from the songs but musically inclined. It's more like "a film with music" as Yentl once said to the ticketbuying public. There are three distinct musical numbers in the film, which is three more than 95% of films get. More...
The first is a water ballet "Jonah's Daughter" with Scarlett Johansson in Esther Williams mode (to an extent) in mermaid gear. It's gorgeous to look at and draws from Busby Berkeley. It's also weirdly serene and wordless in a movie with a lot of verbal chaos. I actually keep flashing back to it and smiling.
Another is the cowboy croon of "Lazy Old Moon" which Alden Ehrenreich sings (it comes from a real movie, 1939's Roy Rogers musical The Arizona Kid)
The one that's gotten the most attention is "No Dames!" because it's featured so prominently in the trailer and because Channing Tatum is singing, dancing, tapping, and very very eager to please.
Spotify provides the full "No Dames!" song which was written by Henry Krieger and Willie Reale (they were previously Oscar nominated together for writing the song "Patience" from Dreamgirls. Krieger's claim to fame are his original Broadway musicals Dreamgirls and Side Show)
I assume "No Dames" was written expressly for the movie (I can't find confirmation, though) and if it was we might have our first future Oscar nominee of the new film year! It's so much fun in the movie. And all three of these numbers are proof enough that the Coen brothers ought to commit and just make a full musical.
Related: Composer Carter Burwell interview
Reader Comments (12)
Seriously, I think we've found our new Gene Kelly.
Is there a decent chance that someone from the cast might be nominated for an Oscar?
Cause I hope to god that one of these days I can call ScarJo an Oscar nominee.
Hello 2016!
I'm already dreading if this movie becomes a SAG ensemble nominee. Actors like Jonah Hill and Frances McDormand getting single credit billing over great character actors and newcomes like Wayne Knight, Emily Beecham, Heather Goldenhersh, Veronica Osorio, and Christopher Lambert.
I believe O Brother Where Art Thou? is classified as a musical, so you can't quite say this is the Coen's first foray into the genre.
Deborah -- oh, good point.
Deborah--agreed. But what's Inside Llewyn Davis, not a musical, right? Huge fan of the Coens, so I can't wait to see this over the weekend (I'm a +7, haha).
BTW, in a similar musical vein--why is no one talking about Galavant?
I was... um... SO disappointed by Channing's musical number. Not by the song itself, but by the dancing, which was... NOT good. Apparently the Coens thought he was the only person who could do it, and... well... there are plenty of other stars or near-stars that have actual tap experience that would have done a better job. Dule Hill. Ansel Elgort. Hugh Jackman. Chris Evans. Probably even Neil Patrick Harris would have been more believable at faking it. It took a Herculean effort for me to not look at his feet for most of that number, but it was necessary to enjoy it.
So sad.
Pam - I super believe in "Galavant".
Mr Channing should do a real musical
CRAVER: I loved Scarlett in Hail Caesar!... She's been so busy "avenging" the Marvel universe or playing characters from another world (Under the Skin and Her, in which she's brilliant) that seeing her using her great comedic chops was such a delight. She doesn't have a lot of screen time, but she nails it. And that accent.... GOD! She's a prima donna who speaks like a Brooklyn sailor and she's hilarious!
If someone from the cast gets some kind of Oscar buzz is Scarlett if the internet decides to "stand for Scarlett"
I so agree! I want to see a full movie musical of whatever movie Channing Tatum was making in Hail, Caesar. I was smiling ear to ear. Loved it. I was completely absorbed in the mermaid number too and what a breakthrough performance from Alden Ehrenreich. Overall, I found Hail, Caesar more amusing than hilarious but I highly recommend it.