Hollywoodland (Widescreen Edition)
by Allen Coulter
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DVD details
Actor: Adrien Brody, Ben Affleck, Bob Hoskins, Diane Lane, Kevin HareDirector: Allen Coulter
Brand: NBC Universal
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 126 minutes
Published: 2007-02-01
DVD Release Date: 2007-02-06
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Universal Studios
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- AC-3; Color; Dolby; Dubbed; DVD; Subtitled; Widescreen; NTSC
DVD Reviews of Hollywoodland (Widescreen Edition)
DVD Review: The Death of Superman
Summary: 5 Stars
George Reeves played one of Scarlett O'Hara's suitors in the first scene of "Gone With the Wind." It was his first movie role and the beginning of what should have been a successful career. But Reeves' big break came twelve years later as a double-edged sword. In 1951, he was cast to play the title character in "The Adventures of Superman," a TV kids' show based on the comic book hero. Reeves finally achieved the fame he coveted, but at a cost. He was so closely identified with the Man of Steel that other acting work became elusive. In 1959, newspaper headlines reported that Reeves had committed suicide.
"Hollywoodland" combines the story of Reeves (Ben Affleck) with that of down-and-out L.A. private eye Louis Simo (Adrien Brody), who attempts to attract media attention to himself by suggesting that the actor's death was a result of murder. Simo is divorced and has a young son (Zach Mills) who is troubled by the death of his TV hero. Simo operates from a cheap motel room and hustling has become a way of life he's not very proud of.
Director Allen Coulter switches back and forth between the stories of Reeves and Simo, giving background on the private life of the actor, his affair with the wife (Diane Lane) of a powerful studio executive, his role as a kept boy toy, and his growing dissatisfaction with his career.
As Simo delves into the "suicide" of Reeves more carefully than the police, he makes odd discoveries that raise difficult questions. Why is Reeves' mother (Lois Smith) convinced that her son's death was not a suicide? If Reeves shot himself, why were three bullet holes found, one from the exit wound to his head and two in the floor? Why have the police been so quick to call Reeves' death a suicide when there are so many odd circumstances surrounding it?
Simo is a man possessed as he devotes most of his working day to chasing leads, dropping hints to reporters, corralling and questioning people who were at Reeves' house the night he died, and arrogantly insinuating himself into the investigation that results in the reopening of the case.
As the film progresses, we are shown three scenarios -- all imagined by Simo, armed with assorted information he has accumulated -- of what happened in Reeves' home the night he died. According to the facts of the case, the credibility (or lack of it) of participants, and the power that the film studios wielded in Los Angeles, each of the three scenarios is reasonable. Coulter never presumes to present one version as accurate. He lays out the possibilities and lets the viewer put the pieces in place.
"Hollywoodland" combines elements of film noir with a traditional murder mystery. It is made with great style and care. The cast is uniformly first-rate. Affleck, who has taken it on the chin from critics and moviegoers alike for such debacles as "Gigli" and "Surviving Christmas," is excellent as Reeves, particularly in the early scenes, which portray the actor as a charming, handsome playboy able to enchant a woman with a smile and a witty remark. Affleck conveys an easy self-assurance and suaveness that alter later as his character deteriorates. Reeves enjoys the material goods being a kept man provides but yearns to become a star in the league of Clark Cable, not a guy in tights bashing through papier mache walls on TV.
Eddie Mannix, a top M-G-M executive known for sweeping embarrassing facts under the carpet if they threaten to create bad publicity for the studio or its stars, is played by Bob Hoskins as a bulldog of a thug in a dinner jacket. His speech clearly suggests tough beginnings. He has had to look the role of studio executive while drawing on his questionable contacts and methods to hush up gossip before careers are destroyed. Hoskins has little to say, conveying a sort of silent menace. There's never any doubt that this is a man you don't want to cross.
Diane Lane's Toni Mannix is an older woman infatuated with Reeves. Since she and Eddie have an open marriage, there is no need to conduct her affair in the shadows. She buys Reeves a house and sees to it that he has whatever he wants. Everything, that is, except decent film roles.
Lane looks great, even though she's playing a woman concerned about her fading beauty. Completely hedonistic, her Toni regards Georgie as her personal amusement, not as an actor striving to move ahead. We can understand Reeves' attraction to a beautiful woman with powerful connections in Hollywood.
Rated R for language, violence, and some sexual content, "Hollywoodland" is excellent at weaving a riveting tapestry around a 1950's celebrity and the notoriety caused by his death. Director Coulter makes the film involving because he approaches it from two angles. It's not a straightforward biography of Reeves, nor is it a modern film noir. It contains elements of both, certainly, but has an integrity of its own. The fact that fine actors have been cast and all do a solid job gives the movie stature. Rather than solving a decades-old mystery, "Hollywoodland" lays out the "What if...?" possibilities while shedding some light on George Reeves when he wasn't in that famous costume.
Description of Hollywoodland (Widescreen Edition)
Based on the true story of Hollywood's most notorious unsolved mystery, Hollywoodland is a tale of glamour, scandal, and corruption in 1950's Los Angeles. When George Reeves (Ben Affleck), star of TV's Adventures of Superman, is found dead in his home, millions of fans are shocked by the circumstances of his death. The police and the studio bosses want the case closed as a suicide, but rumors linger. Louis Simo (Adrien Brody), a private investigator, picks up the trail and begins to piece together the actor's last, tension-filled days. Who pulled the trigger? Was it the seductive yet scheming fiancee, the spurned lover (Diane Lane), the enraged husband (Bob Hoskins), or was it Reeves himself? Starring: Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, Ben Affleck, Bob Hoskins, Lois Smith, Robbin Tunney, Molly Parker, Kathleen Robertson, Joe Spano Directed by: Allen CoulterSimilar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
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