Hollywoodland

Hollywoodland ***

When the credits began to roll for "Hollywoodland" I was struck by the thought that Ben Affleck really wasn't too bad here. After a string of horrible, dreadful roles, including "Paycheck," and "Surviving Christmas," Affleck seems to be channeling the past him-the guy that was making movies before he starred in "Reindeer Games." And the rest of the cast too, Adrian Brody, Diane Lane, and Bob Hoskins, all gave such perfect performances, that it's all worth the price of the ticket. It's a true crime story, something that seems to have been coming out alot lately. And at the core of this crime story is a message that really should be told more often.

"Hollywoodland" begins with the cops arriving at the scene where a death took place. George Reeves, the actor that played Superman in a low-budget kids show, shot himself. The cops declare it a suicide right away, and dismiss any idea of foul play. However, Reeves mother doesn't trust anyone, especially Reeves wife, who waited forty-five minutes before calling the cops. The LAPD won't touch the case, and consider the entire thing over and done with. However, Reeves mother hires Louis Simo, a private investigator, who usually investigates wives whose husbands hired him to see if they were having any affairs. Louis isn't the happiest guy in the world. His wife is getting ready to be married to another man, his son is devastated by the news that the actor playing his favorite superhero killed himself, and to top it off, his girlfriend/partner seems to be fooling around with another man. Louis doesn't really want to get involved, but for the money, he decides to shake things up a little bit. He'll get attention onto the suspicion that Reeves killed himself, and that'll reopen the case, and it'll become the problem of the LAPD. Flashbacks tell of the story of Reeves, who was an actor with a small part in "Gone with the Wind," and now he is looking around for work. He meets and falls in love with the wife of the MGM president, Toni Mannix. She buys him a house, introduces him to her husband, Eddie Mannix, and gets the lead role in "Superman," while in the present day, Louis begins to dig up information about Reeves, and his mind shifts. Suddenly, maybe Reeves was murdered. A few people have the motive. . .

"Hollywoodland" on a few different levels. First of all, it touches much on the theme of identity, something that "Superman" always did. George Reeves wasn't able to go anywhere without being identified by Superman. Children would walk up to him, and want to try and hurt him. In the film, one kid even walks up to Reeves with a gun, wanting to shoot him so that the bullet would bounce off him. It discusses the role that television plays in the lives of children. Louis' son is so upset about the fact that George Reeves killed himself, that he even burns the Superman suit that his father bought him. They don't really understand the fact that it's an actor playing the character. They just see the character, and the fact that their hero is dead. The abrupt ending may be a little bit ambiguious for some viewings, but for me it struck just the right chord. The case about Reeves may not be solved, but the case about what happened to Superman is. There's a little bit of Superman in all of us. The cast plays everything perfectly. This isn't the type of film that I expect to be remembered come award season, but it's a great showcase for all these actors. It's very entertaining, well written, and directed with an interesting style. And the musical score fits the time period well-throwing off a noirish feel. It may feel a little long, and looses a little bit of steam towards the end, but "Hollywoodland" is one of the best bets at the theatre at the moment, unless you're still catching up from the summer season.