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Hollywoodland (2006)

• Review: ** ½ (out of ****)
• Starring: Adrien Brody, Ben Affleck, Diane Lane, Robin Tunney, Bob Hoskins, Lois Smith, Molly Parker, Ted Atherton, David J. MacNeil, Dash Mihok, Kevin Hare, Kathleen Robertson, Jeffrey DeMunn, Joe Spano
• Director: Allen Coulter
• Screenplay: Paul Bernbaum
• Length: 126 min.
• MPAA Rating: R (For language, some violence and sexual content)

A fictionalized investigation into the real-life mystery ofthe death of TV’s first Superman George Reeves (Ben Affleck) shifts back andforth incessantly between celebrity biopic and noir thriller.

Louis Simo (Adrien Brody) is a down-on-his-luck private dickwhose cases teeter on the obscure and pathetic. While working for an obsessedhusband who believes his wife’s cheating on him, he gets a potential break on acast involving the police-classified suicide death of George Reeves. The casehits close to home when the son he has with his estranged wife becomesdespondent and reckless after the death of one of his favorite television characters.

Most of the film revolves around Simo’s investigation of thecrime. His personal life takes a significant beating as he zealously pursuestruth in a case that was, historically, never solved. Evidence mounts upagainst various people in Reeves’ life but none of it seems to stick and afterSimo takes every tack he can and comes out with nothing, he must wonder justwhy he’s pursuing his case.

Hollywoodland wasto be the original name of the housing development that ultimately failed tofinish its hillside name (thus earning Tinseltown’s moniker Hollywood) but here it represents a place ofsuperficiality, fear and repressive personalities. From its main charactersdown through its supporting cast, screenwriter Paul Bernbaum can’t help butcreate a less glossy version of reality despite director Allen Coulter’sattempt to make this a first-rate noir thriller.

Filmed in a style similar to the less impressive films ofthe era in which it’s set, Hollywoodland plays like a bad detective thriller, never finding its way out of the schtick.It’s not a bad feature but one of many fatal flaws. The art direction andcostumes are fitting and even the photography and music give the film an addedpush that the narrative can’t supply. However, the only real magnificence tothe project is that of its stellar supporting cast.

Brody is the lead and while his performance bears littlesimilarity to his Oscar-winning role in ThePianist, it’s hard to like a guy who doesn’t seem to like himself. The samecannot be said for Affleck as Reeves. Affleck presents a charming yetconflicted man whose lifelong goal is to become a serious actor. Fate neverdeals him an even hand despite a wildly popular turn on serial television.Instead, he’s left unfulfilled and upset after a series of mishaps asexemplified by a screening of From Hereto Eternity where audience reaction dooms his minor role in the film.

It’s through his disappointing ride to ruin that we see thetrue heart and soul of this film. Affleck does his best work in years as theaging actor. After years of dreck like Armageddon and Daredevil, Affleck finally findsa role deserving of him and one in which he goes to great lengths to impressthe audience and earn a potential slot in this year’s Oscar nominations.

Diane Laneis equally up to the task as Reeves’ muse and studio chief wife Toni Mannox.Her demeanor towards Reeves shifts dramatically through the film, beginning asenamored paramour and progressing through seething hatred to inconsolablefaux-widow. Despite the potentially dreadful compunctions of other actresses tooverplay this role, Lane plays it with a balance of emotion that creates anindelible impression of the audience.

Jeffrey DeMunn as Reeves’ agent Art Weissman and BobHoskins’ MGM VP Eddie Mannix are also superb in limited roles. These charactersare incredibly important to Hollywoodland’ssimplified theme. As Simo works to prevent his life from following the samepath as his supposedly-murdered target, we watch as the story that should havebeen developed in more detail unfolds.

Each character obsesses over something of which he haslimitedly little control. Reeves and his career, Toni over George, and Eddie forToni. All are blind to their own faults and though we see a harrowed GeorgeReeves in several scenes prior to his death, we cannot help but feel that theperson who’s truly lost out is he. He’s left with shattered dreams and a careerincapable of resuscitation.

Hollywoodland,approached from a different angle, could have been the year’s best film.Removing the weaker Simo character from the equation would have created a morepowerful story. Reeves should have been the subject of the screenplay, not thesubject of an investigation within the screenplay. Instead, the entire story ofReeves’ life that we see on screen should have been embellished and deliveredwith more flair and intensity. Everything Simo uncovers (such as Reeves’ breakline woes) could have been shown as it happened.

However, we’re left with a second-rate story proppingup a rather interesting character study of a man who never lived up to his ownexpectations.

-Wesley Lovell (September 21, 2006)