Sensationalism sucks.
Because of the killing-spree, action-fart explosion films and the dead-girl, blood-sponge horror flicks that have been thrown upon us by the marketing departments of Los Angeles, America has warmed up to the idea that the more dead bodies shown, the better the film – unless the main character is gay, of course (i.e. “Capote” and “Brokeback Mountain”).
“Hollywoodland,” a neo-noir mystery directed by Allen Coulter about the 1959 death of George Reeves, the original Superman of the popular 1950s TV show, plays on the concept that a cast of questionable characters can pull together a plot that – get this – only involves two corpses. Wowsers.
Featuring some of the best acting seen in recent history, the film showcases Adrian Brody as the failing-at-life private investigator Louis Simo and Ben Affleck as the depressed, soon-to-be deceased Man of Steel.
A crime drama about the rocky nature of humanity, “Hollywoodland” opens with Reeves’ supposed suicide and the tail end of the quickly shut investigation led by the Los Angeles Police Department.
Only when Reeves’ mother wants a deeper look does Simo get involved and try to prove that foul play pulled the trigger, not the despair of a failing actor.
True to the nature of old-school film noir, main character Simo has the morals of an ambitious carney and the luck of a broken staircase. His marriage has ended, his new girlfriend becomes unfaithful and his job is in constant danger of disappearing. Simo is a new note to an old tune sung by the hard-pressed Bogarts and Nicholsons of old-age noir.
In direct contrast to the street-savvy L.A. detective is Reeves, a good-at-heart, never-got-a-break wannabe actor. Though his death sparks the film’s intro, director Coulter inserts interjections of the background drama of Reeves’ life leading up to his untimely death.
Through the eyes of flashback, the audience is led from the dismal days after Reeves’ kid show debut, to the dark downfall the actor had after his spot in the blue and red suit was canceled. All the while, we see him progressively interact with the devious characters that Simo suspects might have the trigger finger in question.
One such she-devil is a sultry Diane Lane as Toni Mannix. Though an older model, Mannix manages to seduce young Reeves into a dangerous love affair that tempts the wrath of her husband, president and power monger of MGM, Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins), another suspect in this mystery.
Coulter stays true to the major themes and trends of the dark-street mysteries that noir gave birth to. Shot with angles that impress, lit with an eye for the 1950s and backed with a sax soundtrack that swoons, the mechanics of this film scream with the greatness of Hitchcock.
Most notable are the dangerous dames who plug themselves into the holes of Reeves’ life. Tempting him with daring lines and promising him the world, they twist him any way they can while he follows earnestly on his knees.
Despite all this praise, however, the film has plenty of faults that might cost some points in the American market.
Topping the list is the drawn-out, slow as molasses progression of plot. Coulter might have mastered his depiction of noir, but he certainly forgot that without progression, his explosion-fed audiences might rather watch the movement of their wrist-bound minute hand, rather than the projection on screen.
Aside from that, the ending of the film leaves a bit to be desired. Though it wraps up the story in an emotionally charged montage of events, it doesn’t answer the mystery we’re all waiting to be solved. Much like Chinatown, the story simply stops – only this time it’s nowhere near as classic.
Still, the characters and the actors who portray them are absolutely fantastic. Even Ben Affleck (who, this writer believes, has been top on the list of still-famous failures ever since “Good Will Hunting”) manages to convince and compel as he draws a hopeless face on the man who first said “Gee, Lois.”
Those who go after a solid, drama-based smoky mystery will seriously enjoy “Hollywoodland.” It’s not loaded with the sensational action-sequences like masterpieces such as “Ultraviolet” and “Blade Trinity.” Instead, it bases its success on the death of one man and how that death raised hell in Hollywood.
That’s a plan for a good movie.
Colin Lacy can be reached at [email protected].
