Review of Hollywoodland (2006) by Jeff B — 18 Jul 2010

In looking at the impossibly colorful images from a 1950s linen postcard of H'Wood, a modern mind might have to substantially suspend their belief to accept that such a magical far-away place ever existed. Then again, H'Wood is an industrial town that has always used it's own fairy dust on itself, a point beautifully rendered in Hollywoodland. With cinematography, costumes, and a detailed script so richly era-specific, the movie makes these linen images almost tangible. This gray flannel Babylon tale wants so badly to be a classic piece of film noir, however, that the script is actually too rich, fitting one too many storylines into the fray.

Long before Christopher Reeve donned blue tights and took to the green screen of our imagination, another actor became so indelibly linked with the Man of Steel that it cost him everything...including, possibly, his life. In this R-rated drama, a sinister studio boss (Bob Hoskins), his two-timing seductress wife (Lane), and a burned-out private detective (Brody) all play a role in the unsolved murder of George Reeves (Affleck), television's original Superman.

Having cut his teeth on cinematic TV sensations The Sopranos and Rome, director Allen Coulter makes an impressive debut with this richly-acted period piece. Across the board, Brody, Lane, Hoskins, and Robin Tunney provide the perfect filler on this wonderful canvas. Affleck's turn as Reeves, however, steals the show, gripping the audience's sympathies for a hard-sell of three rounds of Who-Done-It? All of the scenarios hold water, but the occasional fish-tailing side treks into the detective's failed marriage are all wet, padding an already overly padded tale.

Bottom line: A beautiful picture postcard with too many words.