Film Review

09 January 2009 03:26 BST

Hollywoodland

Directed by Allen Coulter, out November 24th at cinemas, starring Ben Affleck, Adrein Brody, Diane Lane, Bob Hoskins running time 126m .

In a nutshell…

Not feel-good, not feel-bad, thought-provoking.

What's it all about?

In 1959, Superman actor George Reeves was shot in his Hollywood home. Hollywoodland follows Reeves (Affleck) from the beginning of his career, his relationship with Toni Mannix (Lane), wife of an MGM studio executive, through the mass stardom the Superman role gave him to his decline as job offers dried up to little more than celebrity wrestling. In parallel, private eye Louis Simo (Brody) investigates the death.

The film tells the story of three people being swallowed up by Hollywood and being spat out. In the end, the story is not about whether Reeves was murdered by a lover, the studios, a jealous husband or if he committed suicide, it is about how if people get obsessed with success and fame above everything else they can lose everything. In Hollywoodland the only winners are the studios that only care about ticket sales.

Who's in it?

A well-rounded cast with protagonists Brody (King Kong, The Pianist), Lane (Chaplin, The Perfect Storm) and Affleck (Armageddon, Good Will Hunting) all putting in good performances.

In supporting roles, Hoskins manages not to be a pantomime villain as the studio boss, Lois Smith (East of Eden, Minority Report) is great as the mother trying to preserve the superman image her son and Robin Tunney (Prison Break) makes sure the starlet fiancée does not come across as two-dimensional.

As an example…

"What's true or false really doesn't matter. If it hurts the studio and if it stops one person buying a ticket, I have to stop it."

Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars

Hollywood loves stories about Hollywood and Hollywoodland certainly delivers. The film is well directed by Coulter, in a debut after working on The Sopranos and Sex In The City, but perhaps it is not stirring enough to take any major gongs. Brody is able - although dropping things is swapped for characterisation - but any Oscar should go to Lane. Her portrayal of a woman a touch past her prime is honest and enthralling, far outshining Affleck's fading star.

What the others say

"A compelling exploration of fame and identity, inspired by one of Hollywood's most infamous real-life mysteries." - Empire

"More a cautionary tale than a thriller, with shades of Sunset Boulevard." - BBC

So is it any good?

Hollywoodland, despite its faults, is a good film. The story of people's lives falling apart with only a faint chance of a happy ending is refreshing and told naturally.

Lane's performance is excellent and Affleck puts in his best work in a good while as the doomed man of steel.

The film falls down with the cinematography, showing the 1950s in gentle focus and nostalgic sepia, the use of getting drunk and smoking as an obvious metaphor for losing control, and an unnecessary section about the evil studio boss.

When a film starts with the death the main character, it could be hard to hold the audience's attention for two hours. But director Coulter keeps the mystery of the death alive and the story of the private eye's similar fall not seem like an artificial add-on as a means to tell the story of Reeves. The director involves the audience in the private eye's fictional story, failings and fall, almost as much as Reeves' true story.

As good, as provoking and as haunting as Hollywoodland is, there seems to be little overriding reason to not hold out and wait to catch it on DVD.

7/10

Daniel Barnes

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