Hollywoodland (2006)

Two Geeks and a GIT Classic Movie Reviews

Film number two in our look at Neo-Noir films comes from 2006. Director Allen Coulter and writer Paul Bernbaum tackle the story of what, exactly, happened to actor George Reeves (Ben Affleck), star of the first television series featuring Superman. The film starts just after Reeves' death, as private detective Louis Simo (Adrian Brody) investigates what, at first, appears to be a suicide. Hired by Reeves' mother Helen Bessolo (Lois Smith), he begins to uncover the life of the actor, and the various directions his career had taken. Reeves was involved with Toni Mannix (Diane Lane), wife of MGM studio head Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins). Eddie has a mistress, so it's ok with him for Toni to have a lover we well. But after Superman is cancelled, George and Toni separate and Reeves takes up with a younger woman, Leonore Lemmon (Robin Tunney) who his mother doesn't approve of at all. As Simo gets closer and closer to figuring out if it was suicide or murder, his own life begins to come apart. It doesn't stop him from trying his best to solve the case, however. Plus, the trio unveil which film, and its twenty-five-years-later sequel, will make up the next pairing!