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Hollywoodland (2006)
Director: Allen Coulter
Synopsis
Based on real events, ‘Hollywoodland’ tells the story of the life and death of George Reeves, the actor who performed the title role in 1950s TV series, ‘The Adventures of Superman’. Found dead in his apartment, felled by a single bullet, the police conclude that the actor committed suicide. However, his mother refuses to accept the verdict and hires private detective Louis Simo to investigate the case. Simo soon uncovers a web of intrigue relating to both the case and his own life.
Movie review
From Time Out London
A minor Hollywood actor, worn down by disappointment, dies of gunshot wounds in mysterious circumstances. Possibly suicide, possibly not. Put like that, it sounds like just another Tinseltown footnote, but when the stiff is George Reeves, who made his name as Superman in the famous ’50s TV series, suddenly you have a story ripe with dramatic irony. Ben Affleck might seem unlikely casting, but with a few jowly pounds added for the occasion, he skilfully and, yes, touchingly conveys the tragedy of a man drowning in the realisation of his own mediocrity. There’s an awards-calibre performance here, but unfortunately, the movie makes you root around for it by giving equal weight to the travails of a down-at-heel private eye (Adrien Brody) turning a buck by investigating Reeves’ demise. We’re supposed to shape connections between their fates, but the gumshoe material is so stodgy we end up waiting for the flashbacks, in which Reeves’ liaison with the adulterous wife (an excellent Diane Lane) of a top MGM executive and his typecast celebrity each limit his prospects.There’s a drip-feed of melancholy here which builds to a pensive finale, and it’s rare to find an American movie concerning itself with failure, yet experienced HBO director Allen Coulter’s big-screen debut is only half-accomplished, its faults of over-deliberate pacing and overlong scenes indicative of its maker’s awkward transition from television. Still, it’s worth seeing for Affleck alone, deftly communicating the distance between the put-on cardboard debonairness of this hunk-about-town and the gnawing uncertainties beneath his Superman outfit.
Author: Trevor Johnston
Time Out London Issue 1892: November 21-28 2006
Cast & crew
Director: Allen Coulter
Producer: Glenn Williamson
Cast: Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, Ben Affleck, Bob Hoskins, Lois Smith, Robin Tunney full cast
Duration: 126 mins
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