Film Review: Hollywoodland (2006) B

Date Viewed: 9/12/06
Venue: DGA

You know, I never hated Ben Affleck. Sure, I got just as tired of his very public relationship with Jenny from the Block as the next guy, but I never felt Affleck was a talentless hack. I just thought he made some poor choices and wound up in a few less-than-successfull films.

Well, Affleck made the right choice with Hollywoodland, a 1950s private detective story detailing the investigation into the mysterious suicide of television Superman, George Reeves. As Adrien Brody's troubled, self-serving P.I. unearths more details surrounding Reeve's life and subsequent death, we're treated to numerous flashbacks to Reeve's days among the living. Here, Affleck shines as Reeve, giving a nuanced and subtle performance as a charming, driven man, who sees his success as Superman as nothing more than a failure to become a true Hollywood leading man.

As our P.I. widens his investigation, questions emerge; was Reeve's death really a suicide? Did his relationship with a vicious studio-chief's (a frothing Bob Hoskins) wife (the always elegant-but-finally-starting-to-look-her-age Diane Lane) cost him his life? Intrigue abounds as our detective is pressured from all sides to cease his investigation.

The only problem with Affleck's stellar performance is that it outclasses the rest of the film. It's not that Brody's dark sleuthing or family problems (there's a somewhat forgettable subplot concerning the detective's ex-wife and child) are that all-together unwatchable, they just pale in comparison to Affleck's rich characterization. Every moment spent away from George Reeve feels like a moment wasted.

All in all, Hollywoodland is a solid, if uneven film that might've worked better as a George Reeve character study than is does as a detective story. As it stands, it's still a good film and worth watching simply for Affleck's Oscar worthy performance.