The last of the Affleck films I plan to watch before Batman V. Superman on Thursday, Hollywoodland is an interesting story where the man who will wear the cowl is wearing the blue and red and the letter “S” on his chest. I’d heard about this film on Maltin on Movies and immediately ordered the DVD from Amazon (which you can do to help support the blog). I found the movie very interesting, but not enough to get it out of the Decent Watch rating.
Based on a true event, Louis Simo (Adrien Brody) is a private investigator who begins examining the mysterious death of George Reeves (Ben Affleck), the star of the TV series “Adventures of Superman.”
The strongest aspect of this film has to be the production values. The sets are fantastic and it is able to really create the feel of 1950’s Hollywood…or at least it is believable. I have no way of knowing what it was actually like then, but it feels very authentic. The cars, costumes, and set design really create the right atmosphere for the story being told.
This may be my favorite performance by Adrien Brody, but I’ve got a lot of gaps where his films are concerned so that may change. Affleck does a solid job and seeing him as Superman, even though he initially has to wear a different color version of the suit because it was in black and white, was pretty cool. Especially, when he delivered the funniest line in the film, “Can you see my Penis,” he asks to his friends as he’s about to jump out in costume for a live event in front of lots of children. A question I’m sure every man asks when he’s forced to wear spandex.
The mystery of George Reeves death is very intriguing and I hit the internet to see what’s up. I won’t spoil the film, but know that this film is seamlessly investigating the various theories of his death and not really offering an definitive answer.
The other aspect the film investigates through Simo’s son, Evan (Zach Mills), which is how did children react to the headline that Superman kills himself. This is like a C-story, but an interesting look at how children would have reacted at that time.
Diane Lane, Bob Hoskins, Robin Tunney, Kathleen Robertson, Lois Smith, and Molly Parker among others flesh out the rest of the cast. I found some of the aspects a bit dull, and I was lost for parts of the film as to why things were going the way they were. Simo’s motivation for pursuing the case didn’t quite click for me.
Even so, the film’s not bad at all. It’s definitely an interesting story and it’s usually pretty affordable to pick up.
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