Certification. 15
Running Time. 2 hours 6 mins
Director. Allen Coulter
Cast. Ben Affleck, Adrien Brody, Bob Hoskins, Diane Lane, Molly Parker, Robin Tunney.
Rating. 67%
The theatrical trailer for Allen Coulter's debut feature film, Hollywoodland proclaims,
"From 1952 to 1958, actor George Reeves starred in the hit TV show, Adventures of Superman. He was a hero to millions of people who watched him every week."
Hollywoodland is ever so loosely based on Hollywood's most notorious unsolved mystery, the death of the actor George Reeves. A fictional account of the events of 16 June, 1959, Hollywoodland combines the authentic true-crime drama of Auto Focus and Wonderland with the film noir retrospective of Chinatown and L.A. Confidential.
The question of whether George Reeves committed suicide or was murdered in a modest house on Benedict Canyon Drive, nestled in between Sunset Boulevard and Mulholland Drive, remains unresolved. There have always been three prominent theories about the death of George Reeves:
(1) The first is that despondent with his stagnating career, George Reeves shot himself. This is what the official police report records as the cause of death.
(2) The second scenario is that, during an argument, his fiancee, Leonore Lemmon accidentally shot him.
(3) The third theory suggests MGM General Manager, Eddie Mannix hired someone to kill George Reeves. Reeves was the lover of Eddie's wife, Toni Mannix for more than a decade.
Hollywoodland presents all three theories, as well as a couple of alternatives for good measure, but without any damming evidence, as in real life, does not present the definitive answer.
The ever-watchable Adrien Brody is well cast as the fame-hungry private investigator, Louis Simo who uncovers unexpected reflections of his own personal circumstances, as well as his own potential path to redemption.
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