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Hollywoodland

Despite a clunky title (although I didn't even know that "land" used to be on the end of the famous Hollywood sign) that conjures up memories of the early 2006 flop Freedomland, Hollywoodland is a modern film noir worth seeing. The mysterious death of George Reeves, famous for starring in the '50s television show The Adventures of Superman, is the basis of this strongly capable flick that deserved to find a larger audience. Now that it's out on DVD, here's your chance.

The film cuts between two stories. The first follows Adrien Brody as Louis Simo, down-on-his-luck private investigator, divorced and living and working out of a motel room. He hears about George Reeves' alleged suicide, finds out Reeves' mother thinks it was a murder, and pursues the case for the money and exposure. The second follows Reeves himself, played by Ben Affleck. It centers around his long affair with older woman Toni Mannix (Diane Lane), wife of MGM studio head Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins), and his later relationship with young actress Leonore Lemmon (Robin Tunney).

Who killed Reeves? His death was ruled a suicide and the case was never officially reopened, although the film is happy to point the finger at two or three of the potential suspects. Actually, the film's major fault is inherent: billed as "the true story of Hollywood's most notorious unsolved mystery," the movie can only grasp at straws in the last quarter or so of its running time, and it takes a bit too long to end.

The performances are top-notch. Because of Affleck's own notorious Hollywood life, some may snicker at him playing such a different and serious role, but his performance as Reeves is pitch-perfect. He adopts the upscale tone of voice of the Hollywood community at the time, as does Lane, and what may seem like an impersonation at first turns into a haunting portrayal. Brody's character, on the other hand, has no preconceptions of himself as a rich elbow-rubber, and is happy to play Simo as the mangy antihero that he is.

The real reason to watch, though, is the whole atmosphere of the movie. The script is a perfectly constructed noir, with just enough alterations to the formula (Simo chews gum while everyone else smokes; the femme fatale role isn't who you'd expect) to make it fresh. There may be a few too many plot strands, but the movie feels leaner than it is. A subplot concerning another case Simo's working on keeps showing up, but what would otherwise be a distraction has a great payoff. And as Simo's investigation pulls him further into Reeves' world, there are some standout scenes.

Hollywoodland is shot and lit beautifully. The divergence between Simo and Reeves' Hollywoods especially "”

with Simo's story, there's more dirt and handheld work, while everything in Reeves' story is clean and polished "” is a clever, subtle touch. And Tunny looks beautiful, as does Lane, despite their best efforts to make her look older.

Special Features:

The special features include a director's commentary and deleted scenes. The deleted scenes mostly consist of a minor subplot about a friend of Simo's who worked with the police, although out of the context of the movie it doesn't make much sense.

There are also a few documentaries, about fifteen minutes each: "Re-creating Old Hollywood," "Behind the Headlines," and "Hollywood Then and Now." Each is worth a look and feature all principle cast members, as well as the writer, Paul Bernbaum, and director, Allen Coulter. "Re-creating Old Hollywood" has the added bonus of numerous photographs from the 1950s period, while "Hollywood Then and Now" boasts such eclectic (though brief) interviews as seventy-nine year old Jack Larson, who played the original Jimmy Olsen. The whole package is certainly worth the trip.

Movie Grade: A-
DVD Grade: B+
Overall Grade: A-