HAIL, CAESAR! (Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, 2015)

[Jox]

[Nathan]

Great to see Dolph there, he always knows how to promote himself. Never misses an opportunity. Hopefully it'll generate a little bit of media attention for his small role.

[Jox]

http://variety.com/2016/scene/vpage/geo ... 201694367/

[shooby]

Great to see Dolph there, he always knows how to promote himself. Never misses an opportunity. Hopefully it'll generate a little bit of media attention for his small role.

I would have preferred it to be clearly stated in the cast, the trailer, posters [...]

[Jox]

His role is too small and the cast too big and overshadowing for that to happen (and marketing-wise I realistically doubt Universal would have wanted to scare mainstream people off with a Dolph Lundgren-starring Coen brothers film anyway even if he had a bigger role, plus this film has many other cast members who aren't mentioned in the publicity).

[Jox]

Bad news, it seems most of Dolph's part has been edited out and reduced to an uncredited "walk-on appearance"...
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/k ... 2188724.ab
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/fe ... osh-brolin
http://thefilmstage.com/reviews/review-hail-caesar/
Channing Tatum says he doesn't know why it was cut out and got a kick of doing the scene and meeting Dolph.
(Christophe Lambert doesn't get much more screen time and some of the other cast members are underused acoording to some reviews)

Reviews
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/fe ... osh-brolin
http://thefilmstage.com/reviews/review-hail-caesar/
http://www.thefilmfile.com/reviews/h/16_hailcaesar.htm
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review ... iew-860214
http://www.indiewire.com/article/review ... s-20160203
http://variety.com/2016/film/festivals/ ... 201693485/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/hail-caesar/review/
http://screencrush.com/hail-caesar-review/

[Jox]

How the Coen Brothers Survived Hollywood and Lived to Make ‘Hail, Caesar!’
http://variety.com/2016/film/features/c ... 201695058/

There are many A-list stars packed into this film. All the actors must have taken pay cuts.
Ethan: That’s how you separate the men from the boys.

[Tom]

Well that news is very disappointing to hear. I was hoping Dolph would at least get something significant to do. I don't see the point in hiring a known person to just wave at camera and then disappear. And honestly, who is actually going to recognise him? Maybe a handful of people among a Coen audience. Just seems pointless to me.

[Jox]

Well that news is very disappointing to hear.

Yeah...
Bomaz had a subconscious premonition calling that it might happen...

I don't see the point in hiring a known person to just wave at camera and then disappear. And honestly, who is actually going to recognise him? Maybe a handful of people among a Coen audience. Just seems pointless to me.

That wasn't the point, and they had a whole scene with Channing Tatum that was shot over two days. The movie is somewhat short (about 100 min without credits) for the number of characters and stars (Apparently even bigger names like Scarlett Johansson don't have as much screentime as they should). Either they didn't like how it played and the effect wanted wasn't as strong, or they cut it for time. From what I know of the scene it also seems very likely that it played a bit forced or pasted (therefore unnecessary or gratuitous) onto the rest of the film. It doesn't mean the Coens didn't like the scene, as directors often cut scenes they love but choose to remove for the overall coherence or pace of the film. I also know D had been reluctant to do it at first (because of the Soviet cliché) so I wonder if it wouldn't have an influence on his being comfortable in the scene as well (which reminds me of the EXPENDABLES speech joke that Sly gave him such a hard time for, kept the first take and then removed it completely).

It would be very lucky to get the scene on the BR/DVD. At least there's the satisfaction the Coens did call him. And even for him it seems to have been cool to be on their set for a couple days.

[Tom]

From what the reviews say it seems the film is quite scattershot and episodic. I guess in some ways like Inherent Vice where the main character encounters a lot of characters on his way and often for just one scene.
Much as I love the Coens I'm not sure this one will strike a chord with me as it's been more compared with Hudsucker Proxy and Burn After Reading as far as style and tone. So I'll probably wait for DVD.

[viendammage]

A friend saw it Monday night and didn't realize Dolph was in it. Said there's no close up of the Sub Commander or anything. What a bummer! Seeing it tonight, guess it's better going in knowing not to expect to see Dolph and not be disappointed later...I wonder how the big man felt at the premiere or if anybody told him he was cut out...

[dude hallenbeck]

That's a shame. Hopefully he's on the Blu Ray. Plus I'm sure the Coens will mention him on the commentary, maybe explain why they cut him.

Like Jox said, we should have the satisfaction that the absolute peak of A-list directors had him in mind.

[viendammage]

Just got home, whoever described Dolph's appearance as blink and you'll miss it must have seen a different version than me. Because you do not see his face at all. I can only imagine he's the guy who climbs out of the sub but there's no dialog or exchange w Tatum. They must have cut around him completely versus having him appear w no dialog and confuse audience.

There are a lot of stars who have quick scenes, Christopher Lambert plays a director in a short scene, Clancy Brown stands behind George Clooney briefly, etc. Jonah Hill, Ralph Fiennes, Scarlett Johansson, even Tatum are only in the film for a few minutes each, it's really Josh Brolins movie.

[shooby]

A kind of "expendable syndrome": by dint of wanting to have a very large cast list, each has a minor role ... especially for supporting roles. Anyway, I would not go against the view, but then I crain disappointment

[Travis]

Disappointing to hear he was cut out. Hope he isn't too bummed out.