Review

Review Date: 17-September-06
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Juicy

Hollywoodland (2006)

If I have one criticism of "Hollywoodland" it's that the elegant, aching demeanor of the drama keeps its subjects at a distance. Then again, that might be counted as a plus. This well-crafted What If? from the pages of entertainment history doesn't have anything nice to say about the Tinseltown elite and the suckers who congregate around them. It dashes any lingering belief that those who bask in the light of fame must feel happy or loved or at least accomplished. It illustrates how heartbreak erupts in the most unlikely of breasts, like that of a popular hero. Such a thesis is probably best digested with detachment.

The most accessible character in the movie is a private eye named Louis Simo, who's brought to life by Adrien Brody, the greatest face in pictures. Brody's gorgeously imperfect mug (plus effortless acting style) informs the viewer that Simo is one of us, a flawed human who can only look upon Hollywood's glamour from the bleachers. He's a wreck in many ways (little money, broken marriage, strained relationship with his son), but he has the gritty nobility of all PIs since the advent of film noir. (The story's 1950s setting renders this apt.) One day he lands a chance to break into the big leagues. When the star of the TV show "Superman" is found dead of apparent suicide, only Simo is brave, curious, or desperate enough to follow the faint trail leading to a verdict of murder.

TV's Superman, you may recall, was played by George Reeves, a stately-looking, barrel-chested fellow whose confident bearing belied a lot of pain. In a comeback role, Ben Affleck portrays Reeves with an unremitting and affecting air of melancholy. Emasculated even when wearing the fabled "S," he swallows bitter pills including a film career that never takes off and a stint as the kept lover of Toni Mannix (Diane Lane), wife of an MGM mogul. The movie grants only flashes of Reeves' humor and troubled past, but the audience, like Simo, grasps a bit of who he was. His twin motivators of ambition and insecurity are nicely depicted in a scene where he greets an audience of adoring pint-sized fans. Whether he, his last-ditch fiancée (Robin Tunney), or some MGM heavy pulled the trigger, they were all part of a life and lifestyle which conspired to bring him down.

Yet this is the life of Hollywoodland: cruel and enervating for all but the super-powerful. Simo's investigation leads not to the truth about Reeves' death (which may remain unknown) but to a reassessment of himself. In a world where a man of steel can perish with so many people around him, he is wisest who pays heed to the out-of-the-limelight things that matter. This is the message of "Hollywoodland," as personal, in a way, as the movie is aloof.

Copyright © 2006 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.