For more movie summaries, see Kam's Kapsules.
 STICK WITH ME AND YOU'LL GO FAR: Toni Mannix, (Diane Lane) promises to put out of work actor George Reeves (Ben Affleck) in touch with the right people in Hollywood because her husband Eddie (Bob Hoskins, not shown) is an important MGM studio executive. |
On June 16, 1959, George Reeves allegedly shot himself in the head after a night partying with friends at his Hollywood Hills home just a few days before his wedding to social climber Leonore Lemmon. Initially, no rumors of foul play surfaced because there was no evidence of an intrusion, and all of the house guests had told the police that the 45-year-old actor had been alone in an upstairs bedroom at the time of the incident.
Following an autopsy, the coroner ruled the death a suicide, having determined that the deceased had had a blood alcohol level of .27. Since there was a plausible explanation for the suicide, the police were inclined to close the case.
It was common knowledge that Reeves's career had been on a downward spiral after his Superman TV-series had been canceled. The hit show's six-season run had left the actor despondent because he had become so strongly identified with the role that had made him famous, thereby making it difficult for him to get work.
The widely circulated rumor was that Reeves had killed himself by leaping out of a window in the mistaken belief that he actually could fly. Time has a way of imbuing cockamamie conspiracies with an air of legitimacy. And so we now have Hollywoodland, a crime drama that successfully reweaves the demise of George Reeves into a riveting whodunit worthy of Agatha Christie.
The film features a cast that executes Paul Bernbaum's script so convincingly that you may just exit the theater believing that there really had been a murder to solve. Ben Affleck (in his best outing in ages) plays the ill-fated Reeves; however, the show is stolen by Oscar-winner Adrien Brody (The Pianist) as Louis Simo, the private eye hired by Helen Bessolo (Lois Smith), Reeves' grieving mother who was convinced her son would never have done himself in.
Simo, a pushy gumshoe, starts to do a little digging and immediately finds several suspects. First, there's MGM executive Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins), whose wife Toni (Diane Lane), had been having an affair with Reeves. Toni Mannix, in turn, had a motive of her own, since she had recently been dumped by Reeves in favor of a blonde bombshell (Robin Tunney). The investigation even uncovers secrets which appear to implicate his gold digger fiancée, and an assortment of other shady Tinseltown types.
Paying meticulous attention to the recreation of period costumes and sets to achieve a fifties feel, Hollywoodland is an amusing escape to that bygone era. When you factor in the absorbing pulp fiction plotline, you've got a cinematic experience, revisionist history notwithstanding.
Excellent (4 stars). Rated R for sex, expletives, and violence. Running time: 126 minutes. Studio: Focus Features.
For more movie summaries, see Kam's Kapsules.