Hollywoodland
“Hollywoodland”, written by Paul Bernbaum and directed by Allen Coulter, captures the aura of the Hollywood of the 1950’s, and a mysterious death and earns a B…
Actor George Reeves, who starred as Superman in the television series The Adventures of Superman (1952-58), died on June 16, 1959. His death was officially ruled a suicide by the Los Angeles Police Department. Reasons surfaced, and was said at the time, that he was very despondent, for quite some time, over his life as an actor. His time as Superman didn’t help. He felt, as some say, he wasn’t taken seriously during and after Superman. Its said that George Reeves’ mother, Helen Bessolo, emphatically insisted that she knew her son and that he would never, ever, commit suicide, no matter how he felt…
“Hollywoodland” reminded of one of my favorite films “Chinatown” (1974) with the period look, set design, photography, even down to the haunting music score. And, the down-and-out private detective who took on the case of the death of actor George Reeves for money and notoriety, and found a lot more than he bargained for as he dug deeper and deeper into the death of the man known as Superman…
It’s 1959, actor George Reeves (Ben Affleck) is found dead in his bedroom. Friends, including his fiancée Leonore Lemmon (Robin Tunney), are being questioned by the Los Angeles Police Department, who rule the death a suicide. When George Reeves’ mother Helen Bessolo (Lois Smith) arrives, she has serious reservations and doubts surrounding her son’s death. In an effort to get Bessolo out of their hair, a detective on the case steers her to Louis Simo (Adrian Brody), a private detective who is barely getting by, doing the low end work that befalls a lot of struggling private eyes, divorce cases, insurance claims, and the like. To make matters worse, he’s divorced with a strained relationship with his son. Simo takes the case for $50.00 a day, with the intent of making some easy money.
As Simo starts to dig into the case, he begins to find a lot of loose ends that don’t quite match up. As Simo starts to get a feel for the case we get into the life of George Reeves through flashbacks. We meet a milieu of persons who have a connection to Reeves. There’s Toni Mannix (Diane Lane), the wife of MGM studio head Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins), who runs the studio and the lives around him with an iron fist. The couple has an open relationship and we learn of the long-time affair between Toni and George. There’s Howard Strickling (Joe Spano), Eddie Mannix’s right hand man who fixes what ever Eddie wants fixed. And there’s Leonore Lemmon (Robin Tunney) who becomes Reeves’ fiancée after his breakup with Toni. The deeper Simo digs the more loose ends he uncovers and is forcibly demonstrated in no uncertain terms to let it go. In the tradition of the movie “Chinatown”, Simo suffers beatings, treats, and non-cooperation at every turn. Simo is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, which is a 180-degree turnaround from where he started, to make some easy money.
“Hollywoodland” gives us a look at a time when Hollywood was young, actors were ambitious, and the powerful were above the law. mysteries were the closest guarded secrets, and some, were never meant to be solved, then or now…
Grade: B