Hollywoodland

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Hollywoodland

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Hollywoodland

Adrien Brody, Ben Affleck, Bob Hoskins, Brad William Henke, Dash Mihok

A uniquely compelling exploration of fame and identity. The drama, inspired by one of Hollywood's most infamous real-life mysteries, follows a 1950s private detective who, investigating the mysterious...( read more  read more... ) death of "Superman" star George Reeves, uncovers unexpected connections to his own life as the case turns more personal. The torrid affair Reeves had with the wife of a studio executive might hold the key to the truth.

Id: 2098419

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Hollywoodland Recent Reviews
  • SirPant
    September 30, 2009
    SirPant
    Great film with some great performances. I really enjoyed it but the one thing that annoyed me, and this is more of a pet hate, was the fact that the whole film was very accurate in depicting exactly what happened, yet the main character is fictitious! It actually works quite wel...( read more)l but it still gets on my nerves. Still, Brody, Hoskins, Lane and Affleck (yes, Affleck) are very good! I can't believe that was a fake nose!
  • PvtCaboose91
    February 18, 2009
    PvtCaboose91
    "I can see the pieces. How they should fit. How I want them to fit."


    The question of whether actor George Reeves committed suicide or was murdered has been subject to much theorising for decades, and will go down in history as one of Hollywood's great unsolved myster

    ...( read more)ies. Directed by Allen Coulter (in his feature film debut) Hollywoodland is a fictionalised account (using both apocryphal stories in addition to confirmed events) of the investigation of Reeves' death. There are three common theories in existence concerning Reeves' demise - did he commit suicide out of despondency due to his lacklustre career, was he killed by a former lover, or was he perhaps snuffed out by a studio enforcer under orders from a jealous movie bigwig? Hollywoodland cracks open this can of worms and explores all three scenarios, but, frustratingly, all it can do is observe them wriggling around. Director Coulter and screenwriter Paul Bernbaum visibly don't want to select a scenario they believe to be true and make it their pet. As an alternative, Coulter and Bernbaum present the viewer with a Rashômon-style multiplicity of possibilities. It's balanced in its presentation of evidence for and against suicide, plus - instead of being a biopic of Reeves - the protagonist is a seedy private investigator who attacks the mystery and, by chasing Reeves' ghost, finds his own path to redemption.


    Full review coming soon...
  • sononothing
    December 15, 2008
    sononothing
    When I was four or five years old I watched George Reeves as Superman every morning before school. You have to remember that this was almost 25 years after he first donned the cape and tights. I didn't know about the suicide, I just assumed that he was Christopher Reeve's dad (I ...( read more)was 5 remember?)

    Hollywoodland isn't just a look at George Reeves (Ben Affleck) suicide. It's also a look at trying to make it in show business in the 1950's. Actors tried to sneak into pictures in Variety and studio bosses pulled the strings on what the public believed that their stars identities were.

    Hollywoodland follows a private detective (Adrian Brody) who ends up in the employ of George Reeves' mother who believes that her son has been murdered. Intercut with flashbacks Brody follows that tale of the last few years of Reeves' life that involve the wife of a studio boss (Diane Lane), his fiance (Robin Tunney), and a vice president for MGM (Bob Hoskins).

    The film is about the downward spiral of George Reeves, but it doesn't answer the question of was it murder or suicide. It just sums up the evidence and lets you decide. What I found interesting is that the cinematography tends to mimic the style of the 1950's- dull, yet colorful as if it was a bridge between black and white and color.

    Hollywoodland is a great period/whodunnit film that doesn't really suffer from any major problems. A great cast and crew make this a dine film that shows us what Superman had hiding underneath that spitcurl.
  • gilbertgumphrey
    December 8, 2008
    gilbertgumphrey
    Hollywoodland is a fascinating and really underrated character study about two guys who both wish they were something they aren't - one wishes he was a top detective, the other an A-list actor. I thought it was one of the best films of 2006 - sadly, few agree with me. It was ig...( read more)nored by critics and the public alike upon release, and even now hasn't found much of a following (its still in the 60% range on IMDb). Watching it again this morning, I'm dumbfounded as to how people can't see the subtle brilliance of the flick. Yes, its a slow-burn thriller, with more interesting moments then out-right suspense. But the reason I love it so much is that it not only works as a murder mystery, but also as a damning account of Hollywood then and now, as well as showcasing how tough it can be for an actor.

    The film is a murder mystery to the ultimate core, in that the mystery will always remain that - a mystery. There is no definitive answer as to how and why George Reeves, the actor who played the first TV Superman in the 50's, died from a gunshot wound to the head. The movie provides us with several possibilities, including accidental murder, assassination, and suicide, but it doesn't settle on any of them. This may be what pissed off so many people who saw the flick; how can there be a mystery with no real outcome? But this is based on real life, and in real life, most mysteries have no outcomes. I loved the ambiguity over the film's murder plot. Personally, I do have to reside with the idea that George Reeves was killed, but I am unsure how, and by whom. And that's part of the fun. The movie gives us the clues, and lets us decide how to deal with them.

    The acting is top notch. Adrian Brody plays the private detective trying to uncover the truth behind Reeves' death when no one else wants to. Brody has this awesome way of talking as if he's confiding something embarrassing and naughty, and I loved his more earthy take on the traditional film noir detective. Ben Affleck (who I've always actually really liked), is pitch perfect as George Reeves. He must've really resonated with the material of an actor being desperate for work, completely typecasted in one role he hates, then relegated to shit work the rest of his pathetic career. Its a great performance, and was worthy of an Oscar nod. Diane Lane is fine as the femme fatale (when was the last time we saw the sexy lead actress be quite a bit older than the two male leads?), and Bob Hoskins is suitably menacing as Lane's husband.

    The film flips around from showing us the details of Reeves' life and the investigation of his death by Brody. I actually found the Reeves stuff more interesting. The man clearly had a lot of demons, only hinted at by this film (he smokes in the bathroom at a café, so the kids at the window can't see him do it), and he obviously hated putting on a ridiculous costume. The most heartbreaking moment of the film is when he's given his big-screen chance in From Here To Eternity, and the audience jeers and chuckles and says "look, its Superman!", leading to the studio executive to cut all his scenes out. There's a definite realism and truth to many of these scenes that I found really interesting - the murder mystery stuff, while also engaging, occasionally feels a little dry and slow moving.

    Anyways, I really enjoy this film, and I urge all of you to take another chance with it. Its interesting, occasionally moving, sometimes suspenseful (as when a child almost shoots Reeves with a real gun, thinking it'll just bounce off him like it would for Superman), and ultimately quite thought provoking. Its well written, expertly shot and directed, and acted to the top tiers. For some reason, I have a bad feeling it will always be underrated and ignored, and that's a shame, because here is a real mystery, without a solution, that many people could learn something from.
  • pier007
    December 2, 2008
    pier007
    The atmosphere is right; Adrien Brody as the detective and Ben Affleck as TV's 'superman' George Reeves, are great in their roles; but the interest for its convoluted and disjointed plot decreases every minute.
  • Yelverton
    November 20, 2009
    Yelverton
    An excellent biop of George Reeves. Ben Affleck is amazing.
  • studmuffin0681
    November 17, 2009
    studmuffin0681
    The glamour of Tinseltown permanently fades for actor George Reeves, the heroic Man of Steel on TV's 'Adventures of Superman', as the actor dies in his Hollywood Hills home. Felled by a single gunshot wound, Reeves leaves behind a fiancée - aspiring starlet Leonore Lemmon - and m...( read more)illions of fans who are shocked by his death. But it is his grieving mother, Helen Bessolo, who will not let the questionable circumstances surrounding his demise go unaddressed. Helen seeks justice, or at least answers. The Los Angeles Police Department closes the case, but Helen hires - for $50 a day - private detective Louis Simo. Simo soon ascertains that the torrid affair Reeves had with Toni Mannix, the wife of MGM studio executive Eddie Mannix, might hold the key to the truth. But truth and justice are not so easily found in Hollywood.

    stars Ben Affleck, Adrien Brody, Bob Hoskins, Dash Mihok, Diane Lane, Joe Spano, Molly Parker and Robin Tunney.

    directed by Allen Coulter.
  • krishna119
    October 30, 2009
    krishna119
    Nice movie..but it just faded away without an end it deserves, I thought.
  • SirGenius
    September 24, 2009
    SirGenius
    Next thing you know batman jumps off a building.
  • saerunmaria
    August 25, 2009
    saerunmaria
    Nokkuð góð mynd en ég bjóst reyndar við því að fá einhvern botn í ráðgátuna sem um er fjallað. Þess vegna gekk myndin ekki alveg í mig en hugmyndn að henni er fín og væri eflaust betri á bók.
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