HOLLYWOODLAND

Director: Allen Coulter

Stars: Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, Ben Affleck, Bob Hoskins, Robin Tunney, Lois Smith

Year: 2006

Rating: R

Set in Hollywood in 1959, Hollywoodland introduces viewers to two men with seemingly nothing in common: actor George Reeves, who began his career as one of the Tarleton twins in Gone With the Wind, only to see his career pretty much tank into oblivion when "The Adventures of Superman" made him a star and kiddie icon; and Louis Simo, the media/fame-hungry private eye who would become obsessed with the suspicious circumstances surrounding Reeves' alleged suicide.

The film opens with Reeves' death from a gunshot room, late one evening. He is found nude and dead in his bed, and even though he had several guests in his home at the time of the killing - none of whom called the cops for the first 45 minutes after hearing the gunshot - the police quickly declare the death a suicide, and the case is closed.

But Reeves' mother, Helen Bessolo (Lois Smith) isn't buying it, and is eventually talked into hiring seedy private eye Louis Simo (Brody) to look into her son's death as a homicide. Simo, who himself doesn't think much of the mom's suspicions one way or another (he's only into it for the money, as he is with everything), soon starts learning some very unusual things about the crime scene, and all the people involved ... and the more he learns, the more he thinks Helen Bessolo might just be right, after all.

Could it have been Leonore Lemmon (Robin Tunney), Reeves' fiancee, because Reeves had just recently called off the engagement? Better still, how about Toni Mannix (Diane Lane), the "older woman" and wife of studio executive Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins), who had been having a long-term affair with Reeves, who'd been respnsible for buying Reeves everything from his house to his clothes to his jewelry - only to be thrown over for the younger Lemmon? Toni Mannix had been stalking and harassing both Reeves and Miss Lemmon, after all. Or what about her husband, Mr. Mannix, who would not only have the power in town, but also enough money to not only get the murder done, but also hush it up?

Simo continues to poke and prod, seemingly not making a lot of lee-way until he's beaten up in his own apartment and told to let the case go. Meanwhile, as he continues to probe the case while dealing with an ex-wife and young son (who is traumatized, like many children at time were, by the apparent, cowardly suicide of the guy they thought of as "The Man of Steel") , the film flips back and forth between the lives of Reeves and Simo, chronicling not only the case but also striking some similarities in the two men's lives ... as Simo learns more and more about the secrets of the people behind the case - even learning some unflattering truths about Reeves' own mother.

Hollywoodland is a well-made, well-acted (yeah, even by Affleck, who actually pulls off an excellent performance channeling George Reeves) and riveting story that sticks very close to the real events surrounding both Reeves' life and death. Louis Simo's character is fictitious, based loosely on three people involved at the time who have been molded together into this one character - but the other players in the game are real, and make for interesting, intriguing viewing. Diane Lane is terrific as Toni, a woman desperate to keep her young boy-toy after the years have seemingly made them grow even further apart in age ... and as Louis Simo, Adrien Brody is perfectly cast and quite exceptional as the character who both carries the film and holds it together. Affleck, not known for his acting chops, even gives Reeves the proper amount of charisma and vulnerability that makes you sympathetic toward him, even as he grows to truly loathe the character that both made him a star and ruined his career.

The film evokes its vintage Hollywood setting - a time when television was at its prime in popularity, and the studio system was losing its grip on calling all the shots in movie-making - masterfully; it's brooding and grungy during Simo's story, more colorful and Hollywood-during-its-heyday-like while Reeves' tale is told. And while the ending might not fully satisfy those seeking a hardcore, cut-and-dried resolution to Reeves' death, this is still a film the fully reflects the Hollywood of its time - and the price of fame for those in the game to win. ***1/2 - Reel Cool-Reel Awesome