December 5, 2006 -- “Hollywoodland” is one of the saddest films I have ever seen. It is not just that people die in the film, its the way their souls get mauled while they are still alive. The movie, based on a true story, is about two very tough kinds of jobs, acting and private investigation. They aren't tough if you are lucky and successful, but they are very tough if you are just barely scraping by. The unemployment rate among actors is around 90 percent, and always has been. Private detective work isn't easy either, sometimes they can't make ends meet, and the job is not glamorous most of the time. This film is about two people in those two professions struggling just to stay afloat.

One of those two people is private eye Louis Simo (played by Adrien Brody of “King Kong”). He makes a few bucks by tracking husbands and wives suspected of cheating on their spouses. He doesn't have enough money for an office, or even a real secretary. He used to work for a major Hollywood detective agency, but got sacked. Now he has his own agency, but it is not on a real paying basis. An old pal at the bigger agency gives him a tip that could put him in the spotlight, however. Simo learns that an actor named George Reeves (played by Ben Affleck) who supposedly committed suicide, may have been murdered. He goes to see Reeves' mother, who hires Simo to look into her son's death.

George Reeves, who played Superman on a popular television show, went up to his room on the night of June 16, 1959 during a party and shot himself, or did he? There were bruises on his body and no fingerprints on the gun. There were also two bullet holes in the floor. As Simo digs into the case he learns more about Reeves and the unusual life he led. Reeves had a long running affair with Toni Mannix (Diane Lane of “Under the Tuscan Sun”), wife of MGM studio executive Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins of “Mrs. Henderson Presents”). The affair had ended shortly before Reeves died. Did Eddie Mannix or Toni Mannix have Reeves killed? Did Reeves' fiancée, Leonore Lemmon (Robin Tunney of “The Darwin Awards”) kill him out of jealousy? A number of possibilities are offered up in the film, including the possibility that Reeves committed suicide after all. All the possibilities are equally sad.

Reeves is depicted as a man of great ambition. He wanted to be a serious actor and hated the Superman role. His affair with Toni Mannix was calculated to advance his career. When he met Lenore Lemmon, however, he dumped Mannix, who was terribly hurt by the rejection, and this angered her husband (it was an open marriage). Simo's investigation causes him to run afoul of some very powerful people in Hollywood. His obsession with the case is so great Simo turns down a cushy studio job to pursue the case. One of the powerful people he runs into is MGM studio publicist Howard Strickling (Joe Spano of “Hart's War”). He also crosses swords with Eddie Mannix and gets beat up for his trouble.

Simo has a drinking problem, his girlfriend is seeing another guy and he's paying alimony to his ex-wife. He has a young son who is going through a tough period in his life. Simo's son, Evan (Zach Mills) is depressed over the death of Superman. Simo investigates the Reeves case as if he believes solving it will also solve all of his personal problems, including his son's. In the end he finds out that Reeves is a man a lot like himself. In one haunting scene, Simo makes one last trip to the room where Reeves died. The two men seem to look at each other across the gulf of space and time. They seem to come to a kind of understanding. It is a haunting scene. The look of weariness and pain on Reeves' face is heartbreaking.

There are a number of parallels in the lives of Simo and Reeves, and both are broken by the power of Eddie Mannix. Both of them played the game of love and lost. Both of them hungered for more success in their lives. At the end, Simo seems to have learned something from Reeves and it looks like he may be a better man for it. If that's true it could be the one slight positive thing in a film filled with heartbreak and missed opportunities. Fortunately, the film is also filled with fine performances. One of the best performances in the film is by Jeffrey DeMunn of “The Majestic.” He plays Art Weissman, Reeves' longsuffering agent. Weissman is a man of infinite patience, kindness and loyalty to his client. He is Reeves' best friend. DeMunn's performance in the film is outstanding. He is an enormously likeable character among scoundrels. Affleck's performance is also very good, in a role that was perhaps tailor made for him, dispelling the notion advanced by his many detractors that he's not a capable actor. Affleck's performance in this film won him a best acting award at the Venice Film Festival. This film rates a B.

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Copyright © 2006 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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