Hollywoodland

We’ve seen this before: a private eye and his criminal case, which over time begins to be too big for him. Well, yes, hello to Roman Polanski and his Chinatown; though that one is in another world in terms of quality. Hollywoodland does have a nice noirish atmosphere, too, but the screenplay is severely lacking. For one thing, I was expecting a bigger criticism of Hollywood's hard business practices, there is no final build-up to arouse some emotions, and the last act drags on, with the story going in circles. But on the other hand, I never thought I'd ever say this, but Ben Affleck (Palme d'Or at Cannes and Golden Globe nomination) is the best thing in the whole film. He's great, giving a pleasantly subdued performance as George Reeves, free of his typical acting mannerisms (his trademark in previous films: a rather irritating constantly astonished look), and as the tragicomic Superman, dressed in costume, he's simply charming. And I'll never forget the tired look on his face just before he wraps things up at the end. Overall summary: between 3 and 4 stars, rounded up, this film is worth watching despite all its flaws. (16/03/2007)

A meandering detective spectacle that plays with noir just enough for me to easily swallow it in two hours without any problems, and at the same time the costumes did not become unnecessarily mannerist. It also recalls the 1950s in all its glory. Like a time when a lead role in a movie meant enough to turn you into an immortal star – but also that gilt always stinks a little because nothing is free. Ben Affleck is cast as a hard-working/broken-down billboard hero and is perhaps cast the most accurately in his career. (21/02/2020)

I'm a fan of film noir. These movies often have that cool retro atmosphere, a private eye who everyone either despises or is out to get, a damsel in distress (now considered gross, chauvinistic, and gender imbalanced), dry humor (sometimes), and other elements that make this genre appealing to me. Hollywoodland was a bit different. The private eye was also the damsel in distress (at least that's how Louis felt to me), and while they captured the 50s vibe fairly well, the story left me somewhat disappointed. It dragged on for quite a while, bored me in places, and after the main character replayed several versions of one event in his head, I realized it was all over and I knew exactly as much as I did at the beginning. Well, that doesn't exactly fill me with enthusiasm. / Lesson learned: Having strong feelings for fictional characters isn't always ideal. (20/04/2022)

It is quite interesting with those film Supermen. Christopher Reeves did not have an easy life and unfortunately did not live in the state that anyone would have wished for him. Obviously, George Reeves, the namesake and actor who played Superman in the 50s TV series, also did not have a natural death. In his case, it was a gunshot death, and it was never properly determined who actually fired the bullet. The case was closed as a suicide, except that George's fingerprints were never found on the weapon. The film "Hollywoodland" tells the story of the death of this actor, played by Ben Affleck. Reeves is not actually the main character, that role belongs to the detective played by Adrian Brody, and that is perhaps the stumbling block. It seems like a film similar to "Zodiac". There is too much going on, focusing on the characters, but ultimately the tension fades away and the viewer gradually becomes indifferent to what actually happened. I don't particularly like Ben as an actor, but in this case, he worked for me. (26/02/2014)