unsolved mysteries

George Reeves' death in 1959 was ruled a suicide, but others were convinced that he did not indeed kill himself, but rather that he was murdered. The "truth" as it were has never come to light. I have no opinion on what really happened. It's a sad story no matter how you look at it.

-- SPOILERS (possibly minor) FROM HERE ON OUT --

The inherent problem with movies like Hollywoodland is that they are based on mysteries that are yet unsolved. Therefore, there is no ending to the story. In itself, that doesn't mean that it's going to be a bad movie, but it's a small strike against it.

When making a movie based on an unsolved mystery, you can do one of 3 things: 1) you can make an ending up; 2) you can take your best guess (an extension of #1); or, 3) you can present all the facts and let the audience decide for themselves. #3 is lame in my opinion, and that exactly what happened in Hollywoodland. I would like to point out that #3 was the route taken in The Exorcism of Emily Rose which I thoroughly enjoyed. It worked well there, just not here.

It would've been better if the hero of Hollywoodland, Louis Simo, played by Adrien Brody, had a more compelling story about him, or if his life was allegorical to Reeves', or even if he became so obsessed with the mystery that his own life imploded. Something! But as it turns out, Simo is bland and has the least compelling story arc in this movie. Everything about Simo seemed forced. Even his big emotional moment comes from, not the Reeves case, but a completely other and wholly unnecessary pseudo-mystery which in turn leads to a drunken catharsis played out at Simo's son's school. It might have been a better movie if it was just about Simo as a PI in the 50's, and not set against the back-drop of Reeves' death. As it stands, the movie just doesn't make a lot of sense.

Ben Affleck however was great and by far the best part of Hollywoodland. I've always been an Affleck fan, but he does shine in this film. Worth seeing just to see his performance, although he's only in about 50% of the movie, maybe less.

On second thought, just rent it.