A film
review by James Berardinelli for RealViews.net.
The
question of whether actor George Reeves committed suicide or was murdered will
go down in history as one of Hollywood's great unsolved mysteries. Allen Coulter's Hollywoodland, a fictionalized account (it uses both apocryphal
stories and confirmed events) of an investigation of the death, presents the
three most common scenarios but, taking a page from Rashomon, it never settles on one. The film is balanced in its presentation
of the evidence for and against suicide. Ultimately, however, Hollywoodland is only peripherally about
the life and death of George Reeves. The film's real main character is a seedy
P.I. who attacks the mystery and, by chasing Reeves' ghost, finds his own path
to redemption.
Comparisons
between Hollywoodland and Curtis
Hanson's L.A. Confidential are
perhaps inevitable. After all, both take place during the same time period (the
1950s) and in the same locale (Los Angeles). They both also contain
mystery/thriller elements. However, the differences are as stark as the
similarities. L.A. Confidential was a
color homage to noir films while Hollywoodland
is a more subdued drama and, while the new movie does a good job of capturing
the period, it lacks the immersive quality of L.A. Confidential's atmosphere. Still, the savvy film-goer can be
forgiving for flashing back to L.A.
Confidential (or even Chinatown)
once or twice during the course of Hollywoodland's
proceedings.
The movie
unfolds across two time lines. The primary one starts on June 16, 1959, the day
of George Reeves' death, and continues through a period spanning roughly one
week. It follows the trail of private investigator Louis Simo (Adrien Brody), a fictionalized
representation of the real-life Jerry Geisler, as he convinces Reeves' mother
to hire him to investigate her son's passing. The official explanation of the
death is suicide but Simo puts forth an alternative. All the clues don't add up
- maybe it was murder. At first, he really doesn't believe this. It's just a
way to get his name in the papers. However, as he digs deeper and meets some of
the principals of the case, he begins to wonder. Eventually, he attracts the
ire of mob-connected film mogul Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins), and things go from bad to worse.
The
secondary time line begins in the late 1940s and concludes in 1959. It
introduces us to the handsome, charismatic Reeves (Ben Affleck) in his pre-Superman days. As his life story for the
next ten years is told, we meet various people who circulate into and out of
his life, including his long-time mistress, Toni Mannix (Diane Lane) - Eddie's wife - and his eventual fiancée, Lenore
Lemmon (Robin Tunney). Despite
starring in the immensely popular Superman
TV series during the 1950s, Reeves is not a happy man. He has not been
well-paid for the job, and it results in hopeless typecasting.
There have
always been three primary theories about Reeves' death during the early morning
hours of June 16, 1959. The first is that, in an alcohol-induced daze and
despondent over the lack of movement in his career, he shot himself. This is
what the official record indicates. Another possibility is that, during an
argument, Lenore accidentally shot him, and then used the 45 minutes between
Reeves' death and her call to the police to stage a suicide. A third
possibility is that Eddie Mannix hired someone to eliminate Reeves because of
problems the actor was causing in his marriage. Hollywoodland examines all three scenarios but in the movie, as in real
life, no definitive answers are to be found. Unlike Auto Focus, another movie about the life and death of a famous TV
personality (Bob Crane of Hogan's Heroes),
Hollywoodland does not pretend to know the truth.
Hollywoodland's emotional impact comes not from the
Reeves-centered flashbacks, which are dry although interesting, but from Simo's
story. He and his wife, Laurie (Molly
Parker), are divorced, but he has an ongoing love/hate relationship with
her that characterizes the interaction between many ex-spouses. He loves his
son, but there's an invisible wall interfering with their communication. He's
living with a much younger women (Caroline
Dhavernas) in a seedy motel, and his clients include riff-raff and
sleazebags. His goal as a private investigator is to string along customers for
as long as possible so they will keep paying him. Hollywoodland is about how Simo's biggest case causes him to
re-examine his life and perhaps change its direction.
The
casting is interesting. Adrien Brody has no difficulty portraying the unsavory
P.I. Diane Lane appears comfortable in the part of an older woman. And Bob
Hoskins is in familiar territory as the dangerous, loud-talking Mannix. Then
there's Ben Affleck, who has chosen this project as his attempt to return from
the brink of tabloid overexposure. There's no faulting Affleck's acting in Hollywoodland, but one can question
whether he's right for the part. Even in full Superman costume or wearing Clark
Kent's spectacles, he bears no resemblance to Reeves. For those familiar with
Reeves' visage, it elevates the suspension of disbelief curve, although the
strength of Affleck's portrayal should eventually win over doubters.
Director
Allen Coulter is a TV veteran but a motion picture newcomer. His work here
indicates he is someone to watch. The pacing is slow and deliberate, but the
story never ceases to intrigue. There are a few narrative hiccups and there are
times when changes between the time lines are not immediately apparent,
especially as the older one dovetails with the present, but these are minor issues and do not erase the movie's
compelling qualities. This is a fine opportunity to peer through a window into
the unglamorous side of Tinseltown's golden years.
Labels: biography,
crime, Diane Lane, drama, Fifties, history, mystery, romance, thriller
