Hollywoodland (2006)

Average rating

(57%)

Starring:	Molly Parker \| Ben Affleck \| Kathleen Robertson \| Adrien Brody \| Robin Tunney \| Diane Lane
Director:	Allen Coulter
Studio:	WALT DISNEY STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time:	121 mins
Genres:	Drama
Languages:	English
Released:	March 19, 2007
Also available on:

HOLLYWOODLAND explores Reeves's life and tragic end from the perspective of Louis Simo (Adrien Brody), a private investigator hired by Reeves's mother shortly after his death. Cutting back and forth between scenes of Reeves’s life and Simo's detective work, the film draws parallels between two men kept from appreciating the present by dreams of future grandeur. Ben Affleck returns to form as Reeves, a man whose hindering celebrity status may have reminded the actor of his own: despite breaking onto the scene with an Academy Award for writing GOOD WILL HUNTING in 1997, Affleck's career was at one point overshadowed by a romance as familiar to the public as Superman's cape. With close attention to detail, first-time director Allen Coulter creates two distinct worlds specific to their time, Simo's noir-ish and seedy L.A. forming a bleak contrast to the glamorous, formal Tinseltown Reeves so longed to be embraced by. An accomplished act for a first time director, HOLLYWOODLAND offers viewers a believable look into Hollywood's most glamorous bygone era. Strong performances and stylish filmmaking help fuel a mystery without a solution.

Highest rated reviews

Most recent reviews

Rated 3 stars
Dig a little deeper.

A Customer from Southampton, 5th November, 2008

What a lot of fuss there was about this film and the fact that Ben Affleck 'can act' I didn't really get it to be honest. I think its been fairly obvious that Ben Affleck can act he just made some very poor choices of films, you can only really be as good as the film you are in, in my opinion. This is an interesting film which is pretty well acted by everyone involved in it particularly Adrien Brody. The main problem that I had with the film is that you don't have any particular sympathy or empathy for any of the characters. You don't really see enough of Affleck to get an idea of what jkind of guy he is, yes, he's obviously nice and frustrated with being type-cast but that's about it. I didn't feel a massive amount of sympathy for him. The other two characters in the film, played by Lane and Brody are pretty unsympathetic too only at times giving you a glimpse of their frailties and humanity. That's the problem with this film it only gives you glimpses of the more interesting aspects of the story, perhaps because the nature of the death is still unresolved. I liked the way that they looked at the death from three possible angles. What was also good about the film is that at the start you would be forgiven for thinking that each character is fairly formulaic (ie either good or bad) they actually evolve through the film making your sympathies and theories on what happened switch around. This film offers no answers which will be frustrating for some but intriguing for others, its similar in tone to Zodiac although obviously much lighter in tone and subject. I left the film feeling unfulfilled, but then maybe that's what the filmmakers wanted, they offer no answers merely opinions, you are left to make up your own conclusions.

Read all recent reviews

2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:

*** May contain spoilers ***

Rated 0 stars
one of the most tedious films I have seen in my life,....

majortom2001 from , 22nd September, 2008

I am extremely disappointed with this film which i was really looking forward to. It is tedious in the extreme, boring, uninteresting, unrewarding, none of the characters are particularly likeable and it is difficult to emphasise with any of them. The story is slow and plodding - (stop reading now if you don't want to read a spolier) and is basically about George Reeves who played Superman in the TV series. Ben Affleck plays George Reeves in a spectacularly wooden manner. George dies - a detective (Adrian Brody)investigates ........ was it suicide? was it murder ? if so who dunnit ? you never find out the 'mystery' is left unsolved. I watched this film in 3 parts as it doesnt make you feel gripped or desperate to reach its resolution. I only ended up finshing it as there was nothing better on TV that day. Bob Hoskins also stars and is wasted in his role. Is it a bird? is it a plane - yes to the former - its a turkey

Read all recent reviews