Hollywoodland (Full-Screen Edition) |  | Director: Allen Coulter
Actors: Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, Ben Affleck, Bob Hoskins, Kevin Hare
Studio: Universal Studios
Category: DVD
List Price: $12.98
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Rating:  146 reviews
Sales Rank: 46849
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 126 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 025193008121
UPC: 025193008121
EAN: 0025193008121
ASIN: B000KWZ7JM
Theatrical Release Date: September 8, 2006
Release Date: February 6, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
HOLLYWOODLAND (DVD) (FF/ENG SDH/SPAN/FRENCH)
Amazon.com
The fact-based mystery of Hollywoodland takes place in 1959, when the death of Adventures of Superman TV star George Reeves cast a pall over the waning days of golden-age Hollywood. As written by Paul Bernbaum, this intriguing whodunit effectively evokes the tainted atmosphere that surrounded Reeves' death (officially ruled a suicide but never conclusively solved), and speculates on circumstances to suggest that Reeves may have been murdered. In combining the melancholy course of Reeves' career with the investigation of a down-and-out private detective into the possible causes of Reeves' death, the film evolves into an engrossing study of parallels between lives on either side of the Hollywood dream. Building upon a distinguished career in TV including episodes of HBO's The Sopranos, Rome and Six Feet Under, director Allen Coulter finds a satisfying balance between the tragic overtones of the Reeves case and the time-honored elements of the gumshoe genre, with Adrien Brody doing fine work as private eye Louis Simo, a fictional composite character who is our conduit to the desperate yearnings of Reeves' final months. In a critically acclaimed performance, Ben Affleck plays Reeves in moody flashbacks, caught between Superman stardom and financial dependence on his lover Toni Mannix (Diane Lane), the somewhat predatory wife of Hollywood "fixer" and MGM honcho Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins), whose mob connections suggest foul play as Simo's investigation progresses. Reeves' subsequent lover (played by Robin Tunney) may also be culpable, and as Simo's own personal life unravels, his empathy for Reeves takes on added significance. In presenting its mystery as a set of plausible scenarios, Hollywoodland holds interest as a mystery that's refreshingly compassionate toward the fate of its characters. Warts and all, they're likable dreamers in a town where dreams don't always come true. --Jeff Shannon
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 146
 Superman investigated February 1, 2010
Daniel J. Schafer
I enjoyed this movie..was slow @ times. I think the box office numbers pretty much showed it's success. Affleck was good as George Reeves.
The Superman Curse January 31, 2010
Rufus Quail
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The best thing about this movie is its recreation of 1950s Hollywood. Since the '50s were my boyhood years, I'm a sucker for the vintage cars, decor, and clothing. Hollywoodland has clever nostalgic touches that will be lost on younger viewers. As the movie opens, we visit the apartment of poached private eye Louis Simo (Adrien Brody). The scene is a cool Mid-Century Modern apartment building. In the background is an overly tanned septuagenarian pumping iron in a Speedo. The "barbell man" (Eric Kaldor) shows up again later. Why is this amusing? The nation was in the midst of a bodybuilding craze. The Vic Tanny chain of health clubs (progenitor of modern fitness clubs) hit their peak of popularity in the late '50s.
Other than that the movie is a mess. Dependable stars like Bob Hoskins, Diane Lane, and Adrien Brody seem to sleepwalk through their roles. The standout is Robin Tunney as Superman's feisty fiancee. Where did they find her? I can only guess that the others were victims of some organic flaw created by the filmmakers. Maybe they were conflicted about what kind of movie they thought they were making. A George Reeves biopic will be too boring, so let's spice it up with the noir gumshoe treatment.
Poor Diane Lane. She almost never makes a wrong move. Her character, Toni Mannix, is portrayed as way older than Superman. Actually, Toni Mannix was just eight years older than George Reeves. There was no need to have Diane Lane "play older." They did her a terrible disservice. The last thing we need is a haggard Diane Lane. In an interview, Diane says the role was "liberating." Ohh-K.
Affleck sings! We get to see Ben Affleck strum the guitar and sing a few howlworthy bars. I don't know if this is true to life, but it makes you start to think it's the real reason George Reeves killed himself.
How did Ben Affleck ever become an actor? He pretty much ruins everything he's in.* He doesn't ruin Hollywoodland, however. The filmmakers took care of that. Affleck is best in the scenes involving kids. Maybe Affleck likes kids. After he rockets to fame as Superman, Reeves is stunned to see a crowd of kids watching him through the plate glass window of the restaurant he's visiting. The Diane Lane character tells him to put out his cigarette. In real life, George Reeves supposedly took it upon himself to never be seen smoking when kids were around. The other scene is when Superman has a personal appearance at a kiddieland. A disturbed-looking boy wants to shoot Superman with a real gun, just to see the bullets bounce off. Affleck's look of terror is convincing.
Where did they find these kids? The one who wants to shoot Superman is very freaky. The boy who plays Adrien Brody's son has the most amazing ears. The boy is despondent when Superman kills himself. In the film, there's an epidemic of kiddie angst over Superman's death. I was around twelve at the time, but I don't recall anything about it. I was too busy being a kid to pay attention to current events.
Hollywoodland mixes up actual events. When Superman gets a role in From Here to Eternity (1953), the incident is depicted as much later in his career and his last desperate chance to break free from the Superman shackles. His part is cut from the picture when a preview audience giggles at Reeves's scene. Actually, Reeves had other chances to ditch superman before his death in 1959. His uncredited role in "Eternity" was NOT cut. Affleck does a good job showing Superman's humiliation.
Because the movie dwells so much on the grim story of Adrien Brody's character, the more interesting story of George Reeves is slighted. That would have been the better movie. I kept waiting for someone to slice Adrien Brody's nose. Instead, he got whipped with a heavy chain that looks like a prop from the Superman set. If the filmmakers were trying for another Chinatown they missed the mark by a flying leap.
Nonetheless, the film is reasonably entertaining (3 stars). Some movies are helped by the availability of free DVDs from the library. Had I paid to see Hollywoodland, I might have felt robbed.
* Dreadful movies can be fun. For a real hoot, check out Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow in Bounce. Two of your favorite bad actors together at last! Two thumbs up from Ebert & Roeper!
Disjointed and dissatisfying December 29, 2009
One-Line Film Reviews (Easton, MD)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Bottom Line:
I tend to despise biopics, but Hollywoodland made me wish the filmmakers had simply attempted a biography of George Reeves's life: all the parts with Ben Affleck and Diane Lane are engrossing and entertaining, while all the parts with Adrien Brody wander down the beaten path of many superior films and drag the movie down to a crawl.
2.5/4
Lacks focus, but there's still some pleasure here April 5, 2009
Steven Reynolds (Sydney, Australia)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
In 1959, actor George Reeves, who had a small role in "Gone With The Wind" but was mainly famous for playing TV's Superman, was found dead, an apparent suicide. In this fictionalized retelling, low-rent private eye Louis Simo (Adrien Brody), convinces the actor's mother to launch a press-driven investigation into her son's death. Among the suspects are Toni Mannix (Diane Lane), Reeves' mistress and the wife of the powerful Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins), a senior executive at MGM, and Leonore Lemmon (Robin Tunney) a possibly gold-digging fiancee... Director Allen Coulter has a good deal of fun exploring alternate theories of Reeves' death and at the same time delving into some unsavoury aspects of Old Hollywood. But the film's focus seems misplaced. The story of Reeves' rise and fall is a potentially moving one. Reeves was a talented, good-looking actor whose success as Superman was undercut by a feeling of ridiculousness, on top of the fact that he was supported by an older mistress, the wife of a top MGM executive. At age 45, there was every possibility he was washed up for good. Real poignancy might have been wrung from his predicament had the story been allowed to dwell there. What gets in the way is first-time scripter Paul Bernbaum's framing story involving Simo's investigation. It's far less intriguing than the melancholy tale of a limited actor reaching the end of the line during a transitional period in Hollywood. It doesn't help that Brody's Simo is a distinctly unlikeable protagonist and his investigation isn't really used to drive the narrative. The film's strengths lie in the unstated assumptions and emotional undercurrents developed among Reeves, Toni and, to a lesser extent, Eddie Mannix, along with its subtle portrait of a Hollywood still dominated by big studio grayhairs but in the midst of a major overhaul to youth and TV. It's great to see depictions of real-life characters such as Eddie Mannix and Joe Spano, MGM's powerful head publicist. They lend conviction and spark to an otherwise plodding film. Affleck won the Best Actor award at Venice for his portrayal of Reeves. It's good to see him doing something different, but it's hardly great work.
Such Wasted Promise December 19, 2008
L. Frijole (Portland, Or)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Hollywoodland is a movie with such great promise. It has a great premise, fantastic actors, and a connection to my childhood memories of watching reruns of Superman.
Unfortunately all of that promise is squandered by a mediocre (at best) script. While Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, and Bob Hoskins create some fantastic characters, and Ben Affleck doesn't totally stink up the joint, they are stuck with boring lines.
George (Ben Affleck) comes off as a very likeable, yet tragic figure. While he rocketed to success as Superman, that success kept him from doing any other acting. He was forever typecast as The Man of Steel. A really solid and entertaining biography could have been made about the rise and fall of this American icon.
While the movie centers around the real-life death of George Reeves, the man who played Superman in the 1950's tv show, the movie lacks any real tension or necessity. It is really more of an exercise in exploring the three main suspects in his death (the mistress, the fiancée, and himself).
Adrian Brody plays the role of Louis Simo, a down on his luck private investigator. Simo is investigating the apparent suicide of George Reeves. The deeper he digs, the more he realizes that "the big blue boy scout" didn't lead such a clean life. Again, this would have made for a very entertaining movie on its own.
Unfortunately, the script cannot handle the mashing together of two movies and the actors spend the entire movie tripping all over each other. That is too bad. I had such high hopes for the movie.
Recommended for the great actors. Not recommended for the actual movie.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 146
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