Review of Hollywoodland (2006) by Freeman M — 30 Aug 2013

It is difficult to really sum up my feelings on the film, as I watched it as a biopic of George Reeves, only to find it more of a fictional thriller, interwoven with facts and conjecture about Reeve's death.

Brodey works hard to create a complex and downtrodden character, however, the film works best when focused on Reeves, who is very well played by Affleck. Affleck not only plays Reeves off camera very well, as a cool and charming yet conflicted and frustrated personality, but he also recreates Reeve's on screen performance of Superman very well, mimicking the campiness of the era in TV.

Diane Lane is also good, in her first performance linked with Superman (before Man of Steel).

However, the run time drags on as the film becomes bleaker and once Reeve's life starts to become darker, the flashbacks no longer lighten the mood from the dark fictional story of Brodey's character.

That the film is unable to give a real conclusion on Reeve's death only adds to a feeling of incompleteness and bleakness.