Review of Catch a Fire (2006) by Gregory W — 31 Jan 2007

Superman and Apartheid are dead. Reviews of [i]Catch A Fire[/i] & [i]Hollywoodland[/i].

[b]Catch A Fire - 6/10[/b].

Director - Phillip Noyce.

Starring - Derek Luke, Tim Robbins, Bonnie Henna, Tumisho K. Masha, Mncedisi Shabangu.

[i]Catch A Fire [/i]is a political thriller set in South Africa during the Aparthied era of the early 80's Derek Luke stars as Patrick Chamusso, a freedom fighter who is signaled out as a prime suspect after a refinery bombing. Anti-terrorist agent Nic Vos (Tim Robbins) is hot in pursuit. Based on a true story.

The film features a strong performance from Derek Luke. The dramatic buildup is quite good although the film regresses into more familar "suspense thriller" territory later in the film.

[b]Hollywoodland - 5.5/10[/b].

Director - Allen Coulter.

Starring - Adrien Brody, Ben Affleck, Diane Lane, Bob Hoskins, Robin Tunney.

The mysterious death of George Reeves, who played Superman in the 1950's, is the focus of this drama. Ben Affleck plays Reeves, a journeyman actor who appeared in small roles before landing the lead as Superman in a B-rate feature film. That role lead him to stardom in eth Superman television series. Despondant over his career, and conflicted over his fiancee (Robin Tunney)and mistress (Diane Lane), Reeves mysteriously dies of a gunshot wound. Written off as a suicide, private detective Louis Simo (Adrien Brody) is determined to find out what really happened.

The films features fine performances, particularly from Affleck & Lane. The mystery itself starts of promising enough as the viewer is given different scenarios, but the film unravels in the end, simply not knowing what it wants to say. Another nitpick was the emphasis on Brody's detective character when the most interesting aspect of the film was the Reeves character, his artistic demons, and his relationships with two very different women. Okay, but this film had so much potential.