Hollywoodland ***
Cast: Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, Ben Affleck, Bob Hoskins, Robin Tunney, Joe Spano, Molly Parker, Caroline Dhavernas
Director: Allen Coulter
Running Length: 2:06
MPAA Classification: R

In 1959, George Reeves (Affleck), star of TV’s “Superman”, died. To this day ruled a suicide, the death is very suspicious. Investigator Louis Simo (Brody) is hired by Reeves’ mother to look into the death. At first he sees it as the suicide that officials are calling it, but pretty soon he realizes the clues do not add up, and it could be murder after all.

Interwoven with this storyline is another about Reeves himself. Beginning in the 1940’s, it shows him meeting long-time mistress Toni Mannix (Lane), wife of mob-connected film producer Eddie Mannix (Hoskins), and getting the “Superman” gig. “Superman” is not the job he thought it would be, and he is under-paid, typecast, and not respected for the role. Then enters Lenore Lemmon (Tunney, his eventual fiancée.

George Reeves is an interesting man, and “Hollywoodland” gives some insight in to his life and death. It is interesting to note that the thing that made him famous also made him miserable. Ben Affleck gives his best performance in many years as Reeves. The supporting cast are all top notch, especially Bob Hoskins as Mannix. “Hollywoodland” does not pretend to know the answer, instead offering a number of possibilities as to what happened that night. “Hollywoodland” is an entertaining and interesting film about one of the biggest unsolved mysteries of its time. I recommend it.