Review of Hollywoodland

The new drama Hollywoodland delves into the mysterious death of the actor who portrayed TVs "Superman" during the 1950s.With a cast that includes Ben Affleck, Adrian Brody, Diane Lane, Bob Hoskins and Robin Tunney, the film is a mixed bag of performances and technical glitches. The performances left something to be desired. Ben Affleck portrays Reeves and gives a performance that seems as if he watched too many James Stewart and Carey Grant movies for research. Affleck has his strong moments which give some validity to the role; such as a scene where he has to stop a little boy from trying to shoot him because the boy believes that Reeves really is Superman. Despite the glimmers of hope for his performance, Affleck comes up short. However, the weakest performance comes from one of best actresses of the past twenty years—Diane Lane. She is over the top and unbelievable as Toni Mannix, the much older lover of George Reeves. Mannix, who was married to MGM studio manager Eddie Mannix (portrayed by Bob Hoskins), had been suspected in connection with Reeves' death. Diane Lane has done better work than this film; as she was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in Unfaithful. By pairing Affleck and Lane together, the two performances appear as if they were trying to emulate "Old-Hollywood" stars of the 40s and 50s. It didn't work. Despite the presence of weak performances, actors such as Adrian Brody, Robin Tunney and Bob Hoskins save the film from going up in smoke. Brody gave the most interesting performance as private investigator Louis Simo. As Simo, Brody grapples with balancing trying to prove that Reeves' death was a murder and his private life. One of the most interesting dynamics is the one that Simo has with his young son who is desperately trying to deal with Reeves' death. Adrian Brody, who won an Oscar for his performance in The Pianist, give Simo a depth and range that is worthy of praise (and maybe another Oscar). Robin Tunney (TVs Prison Break) portrays Leonore Lemmon, George Reeves' fiancé. Her performance adds to the film's overall tension and shows her range as a dramatic actress. Well-known character actor Bob Hoskins portrays Eddie Mannix. Although his appearance in the film is short compared to the others in the ensemble, Hoskins does one of the most impressive American accents by a British actor ever. He also adds balance to Diane Lane's character and performance which helps the film succeed. Aside from the performances are the technical glitches made by the filmmakers. The film flashes from the present to the past and replays the night of Reeves' death numerous times. The lighting of the flashbacks varies from stark to inviting, it was effective. Although the editing is cohesive and adds to the overall effect of the film, it is its technical glitches that make it weak. The most distracting thing became seeing the boom microphone in several shots throughout the film. It occurred so much that I was sitting there waiting for it to appear. After the last few years of biopics of Ray Charles, Truman Capote and Johnny Cash, Hollywoodland puts a different spin on a traditional concept. It is entertaining, but is weighed down by a few weak performances and technical mistakes. Maybe seeing Superman Returns and The Black Dahlia back-to-back would be a good substitute for this film.