Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Charming and brutal

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

"Hail Caesar" was actor Anthony Michael Hall's debut as a director. With the exception of an episode of the television show "The Dead Zone", he has not directed anything since. Seeing this movie, the reason for this is pretty obvious. To be fair, he was working with a pretty low budget, which is pretty evident throughout. For example, in several scenes with two people talking, he never shows a shot of the two characters in the same shot - he just shot each actor alone, and edited both sets of footage together. But the problems of "Hail Caesar" go beyond the low budget. All of the characters in the movie are annoying and obnoxious, and the movie doesn't know whether to be a satire of the music business or a goofy comedy about a youth trying to win over the father of his girlfriend. If you are thinking of giving this movie a try because of its cast, a word of warning: Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Downey Jr., and Judd Nelson each just have a few minutes of screen time. Thumbs down for this Roman emperor!

I have seen some bad movies in my life, but this is the worst in years. With the exception of Robert Downey Jr's 6 minutes (at 50 minutes into the movie) or Judd Nelson's 4 minutes (at 80 minutes in), there is nothing redemptive. Samuel L. Jackson must have been paying a bad debt, ant obviously Downey was being generous. Leslie Dannon as the love interest is reasonably hot (especially in the end), but her acting skills run the gamut of a to b. Downey's talent is so clear in the scene and a half that he is in, that he is without equal talent wise in this film.For a brief time in the mid 80s, i thought that Hall had some talent, but I have been healed of this mistaken belief now. How he got the freedom and financing to direct, produce, and star in a movie, when Judd Nelson's career disappeared, is beyond me. In my humble opinion, Hall is not a pimple on Nelson's hind end (to paraphrase Joe Seneca in Crossroads). Furthermore, it is hard to take anyone seriously who appears to have made a serious effort at looking like Corey Haim.In addition, the production values suck. The editing sucks. There are noticeable jumps in movement (as if it were stop motion photography) during the Downey Jr scene.I might add in conclusion that it i would rather pass a kidney stone than listen to another song by Hall.

I am seldomly impressed by people but Anthony Michael Hall IS one of the most impressive male actors I have seen. He seems to have an understanding of comedy and his audience way beyond most other actors. His music is equally impressive. I was extremely impressed by the song in the end credits of this movie and it has been several years since I saw it last. It is a shame that truely talented people are held back in hollywood. Others who are also impressive minded people include Jeremy Piven, Robert Downey Jr, Tom Green, Harland Williams and Trey Parker. Bring on more people like these!

Any member of IMDB that says this movie was good, entertaining, or any other positive note should have their membership instantly revoked!Don't buy into the well known actors that appear in this movie. It was obviously out of sympathy they appeared for Anthony Michael Hall's movie he directed. I like Anthony, but he sucks as a director and this script is one of the worst written ones out there.The only good thing I could say about Mr. Hall in this movie is ... he actually sounds pretty good as a singer. I had no idea he that he could sing. He even wrote the lyrics to these songs, which are a far cry better than his ability in directing.