Hollywood Country (2006)

Directed by: Alan Coulter | 126 minutes | drama, thriller, crime, history | Actors: Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, Ben Affleck, Bob Hoskins, Lois Smith, Robin Tunney, Larry Cedar, Jeffrey DeMunn, Brad William Henke, Dash Mihok, Molly Parker, Caroline Dhavernas, Kathleen Robertson, Joe Spano, Gareth Williams, Zach Mills Ted Atherton, David J. MacNeil, Kevin Hare, Eric Kaldor, Neil Crone, Philip MacKenzie, Seamus Dever, Jon Vladimir Cubrt, Veronica Watt, Joan Gregson, David Bolt, Ayumi Iizuka, Jeff Teravainen, Brendan Wall, Eric Weinthal, Steve Adams, Jack Newman, Joseph Adam, Lorry Ayers, Robert B. Kennedy, Sven Van de Ven, Chad Powell, Michael Rhoades, Richard Fancy, Jeff Cowan, Peter James Haworth, Jason Spevack, Dendrie Taylor, Erin Gooderham, Channing Mitchell, Diego Fuentes

George Reeves (Ben Affleck) dreams of becoming a great actor. But because a human also has to eat, he accepts the role of unbeatable Superman in a television series based on the ‘Action Comics’ series. Television is a third-rate medium and he hopes his performance will go unnoticed. However, much to his surprise and horror, the series becomes wildly popular and he is forced to jump around in a red and blue suit for a small fee. But that’s not even the worst. His chances for a serious role are lost forever with the portrayal of the superhero, a tragic case of typecasting.

Private detective Louis Simo (Adrien Brody) learns from a former colleague that Reeves’ mother (Lois Smith) tried to hire him and his colleagues after her son’s death. Louis becomes curious and visits her. When he then investigates, it soon becomes apparent that the police have concluded too easily that it must have been suicide. There are bruises on Reeves’ body and there are also three bullet holes in the room instead of the one expected. Before getting engaged to Leonore Lemmon (Robin Tunney), Reeves was supported by the elder Toni Mannix (Diane Lane), wife of MGM CEO Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins). Toni wasn’t happy about Reeves’ engagement to Leonore to say the least, but she’s not the only one with a possible motive for murder.

‘Hollywoodland’ is very entertaining, but superficial. The life of George Reeves is presented in a series of flashbacks and the life of Louis Simo is also discussed. These two storylines continue to run parallel to each other so that there is no interaction, despite Louis investigating the violent death of Reeves. The film is fragmented in other respects as well. It is both a whodunnit and a morality sketch about the depraved practices in Hollywood and a tragic story about an unsung actor and a story about the love between an older woman and a younger man. All kinds of themes are reviewed without being forged into a whole or thoroughly explored.

There are many beautiful scenes in the film. During a performance for a group of children, Reeves shows how bullets bounce off him and how he can bend his opponents’ shooting irons with a few simple moves. Then a little boy walks up to him with a loaded revolver. He is eager to shoot Reeves in the belief that his hero is invulnerable. This shows in a blood-curdling way how a character can run off with an actor. However, all these beautiful scenes together do not form a harmonious whole, but unfortunately only a sequence of events.