Hollywoodland: Movie & DVD Review (2006)

(Originally published 2006)

Some of us are still waiting for the movie in which Adrien Brody once again reveals the greatness he showcased in his Academy Award-winning performance in "The Pianist."

Where has it gone? It wasn't on display in M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Village,” which squandered his talent, nor did it come through in Peter Jackson’s "King Kong," which wasn’t exactly a surprise given the star of the movie was its special effects.

Still, in the noirish undercurrent of "Hollywoodland," whose trailer suggests the promise of a movie that might be on par with "L.A. Confidential," there is the expectation that this could be a return to form for the actor.

It isn’t.

As the fictional Louis Simo, a troubled private detective with a fractured homelife, Brody is only ever competent in a movie that embraces competence, not the greatness it could have achieved given the intriguing story at its core.

The film involves the potential mystery surrounding the violent death of George Reeves (Ben Affleck), who played Superman in the 1950s television series “Adventures of Superman” before allegedly shooting himself in the head when he realized that he'd never been seen as anything more than the Man of Steel. The key here is “allegedly.” Could it be that Reeves didn't commit suicide and that his death was murder? It's up to Simo to find out.

If the very title of “Hollywoodland” makes it sound as authentic as a back-lot set, Paul Bernbaum's script reinforces that notion. Rarely in this movie are you aware that you aren't watching actors going through the motions of making a movie. Performances by Diane Lane as Reeve’s older lover, Toni Mannix, and Bob Hoskins as Toni’s husband and MGM studio executive, Eddie Mannix, join much of the rest of the cast in their inability to connect with material too scattered to generate something real.

The movie isn't a total bust. Production values are excellent, the 1950s are seamlessly evoked, and Affleck makes an effort to do something more challenging than his embarrassing rash of recent films, "Gigli," "Daredevil" and "Surviving Christmas" chief among them. Better yet, the film offers a memorable supporting performance by Lois Smith as Reeves' mother, who hires Simo to learn the truth about Reeves' death, and who holds the screen better than anyone else. She is magnetic and unshakable, giving each of her scenes an interest and a weight the movie otherwise lacks.

In the end, though, there isn't enough of her to suit, and after a while, pretty sets can become pretty boring if there isn't something compelling occurring within them.

This is director Allen Coulter's first theatrical effort and by the final third of the film, he loses control of it--plot threads are dropped, characters lose clarity, the production seems rushed, Brody's performance unwinds. Watching the film itself unwind, it becomes clear that this is the movie Coulter and Bernbaum should have made in the twilight of their careers, when Hollywood had had its way with them. Perhaps then, they would have been armed with something meaningful to say. Maybe then they would have seen Reeves clearly.

Grade: C