Not since Chasing Amy and Good Will Hunting have I not wanted to punch Ben Affleck directly in the face.
Hollywoodland is actually two stories in one. It simultaneously chronicles the alleged mystery behind the 1959 death of TV’s original Superman, George Reeves, and also the P.I. who takes on the subsequent investigation. George Reeves (brilliantly played by Ben ‘Where’s Matt Damon?’ Affleck) is a struggling actor looking for work. With a bit part in Gone With The Wind and some clever ’self-promotion’, he finally catches an unlikely break. Reeves finds himself in the company of Toni Mannix (Diane Lane), the wife of the general manager of MGM Studios and a very lonely woman. After a dry spell without decent work, Toni teams up with Reeves’ agent to convince him to audition for a new TV show based on the popular Superman comics, which he eventually gets. Reeves becomes increasingly unhappy with his choice of work and the ensuing typecasting he is subjected to. A year after his show ends its seven-year run, he is found dead in his bedroom with a bullet in the ceiling and a gun between his feet. The LAPD officially calls it a suicide and closes the case. When Loius Simo (a detective-turned-private investigator played by Adrien Brody) catches wind of Reeves’ mother seeking a further investigation, he jumps on the job. Simo discovers he bit off more than he could chew taking this high-profile case when he has a failing business, an emotionally detatched child with his ex-wife, and the added legal pressure to just ‘leave it alone’.
Mistaken as a true story, Hollywoodland is actually based in part on the 1996 biographic novel, Hollywood Kryptonite. The film, as per the book, eyes the event as a conspiracy and develops it’s own answers to the mysteries of the holes in the story and puzzling evidence. The imaginations of the writers create the fictional Brody character to help move the story along and give it a mysterious appeal that might not even exist in the actual events. In the end, you can only take the movie as high-end entertainment that is loosely based on actual events, rather than the dramatized documentary that I initially expected.
The high points of this movie are definitely the reemergence of Ben Affleck’s acting ability and the undeniable chemistry between him and the gorgeous Diane Lane (at 42 she is still one of my favorite women on Earth). Their love-hate affair carries the drama of the film from the beginning to the very end as well as adding mystery to either Reeves’ reason for suicide or motive of murder. Lane really should have received some recognition for her role as Toni Mannix.
You cannot miss this film.
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