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Hollywoodland
R1 - America - Universal Pictures Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (12th February 2007). |
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The Film
 Being a 28 year-old you wouldn't think that I grew up watching the classic TV series "The Adventures of Superman" considering they were produced in the 1950's, but thanks to a television station called Nickelodeon who back in the early 90's had a night time block called 'Nick at Night' featured reruns of classic television shows from yesteryear. One of those shows was "The Adventures of Superman" and just like all those kids decades before me I too was hooked on the series and tuned in every night for another thrilling episode. Now I can watch them anytime thanks to DVDs and recent release of those classic episodes from Warner Brothers. It wasn't until later adult life that I began to learn about the 'Superman curse' which befell the actors that portrayed the man of steel. Kirk Alyn who played Superman in a series of serials produced in the 1940's struggled to get work again after that role as he was too recognizable as that character, George Reeves also found it difficult to get roles in other projects and ultimately died too young (a suspected murder and a topic that is covered by this film), Christopher Reeve followed the same casting hell until his tragic horse riding accident left him paralyzed until his untimely death in 2004 and Dean Cain who played the character in a rebooted television series in the early 90's has been relegated to bit parts since that series ended, only the future knows what's to become of Tom Welling and Brandon Routh... Reeves struggled with his fame, he was constantly reminded of the character he played and his career suffered as a result. He was unable to continue his acting career simply because he was too recognizable as Superman; adding to this his torrid affair with a studio boss' wife left him an emotional wreck. It was the evening of June 16, 1959 at approximately 1:30am that Reeves died of a gunshot wound to the head in his bedroom. He was shot with a German Lugar pistol. He was 45 years-old. His death shocked many people, none more so than his fans, millions of kids around the world would wake up on the morning of June 16 to hear that Superman had died. According to police reports the death was ruled a suicide, but Reeves' mother suspected foul play and hired a private investigator to look into the matter. To this day the suicide remains in doubt, with a lot of evidence casting a shadow over the original investigation. "Hollywoodland" is a look at the case from the perspective of the private investigator, Louis Simo (Adrien Brody) as he tries to uncover the truth behind the suicide and which opens three possible scenarios: his jealous fiancé Leonore Lemmon (Robin Tunney) engaged Reeves (Ben Affleck) in an argument that led to his accidental shooting, MGM studio boss Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins) arranged his death, his wife Toni (Diane Lane) and Reeves had been involved in an affair that went on for several years and finally he actually did kill himself. The film doesn't really offer any new insights into the case, not does it offer an opinion as to which scenario the filmmakers think is the most accurate but instead presents them all for the audience to make up their own minds. Of course there are several elements of this story that have been dramatized for effect, so this isn't a completely accurate retelling. What it is is an extremely well made detective story told with noir sensibilities, the film not only takes place in the late 1950's but it feels like it was also made in that era. This is probably the biggest compliment that I can give this film as the filmmakers certainly seemed like they were trying to create a gumshoe film reminiscent of those old studio classics. The cast all delivered exceptional performances, Brody at his usual best brings a glumness to the character of Simo that adds a certain dimension to the role. The ladies, Diane Lane and Robin Tunney both chime in with their best 'Dame' impressions; they both exude that old Hollywood feeling of the seductive honey traps, slightly dangerous with hidden motives and are totally manipulative. Hoskins is equally manipulative and menacing as the studio boss, he plays the role akin to a godfather of a mob empire and does it so perfectly that you'd think he was a studio boss from the 50's. But the total surprise has got to be Ben Affleck, critically panned for almost every film he's been in since "Good Will Hunting" (1997) people forgot that he is actually a good actor and in the hands of a good director is capable to delivering phenomenal performances just look at the criminally underappreciated "Changing Lanes" (2002) and "Chasing Amy" (1997) both good examples of this. Affleck has certainly redeemed himself for a decade of terrible performances in equally terrible films in one stroke, in "Hollywoodland" he IS George Reeves, in every sense of the word and delivers one of the most poignant, mature and complex turns of his career and his snub by the Academy for an Oscar nomination is simply criminal. "Hollywoodland" possesses many characteristics of an excellently made detective drama, the scripting is a good example of masterful storytelling utilizing all the tried and true tricks the noir genre has established but the filmmakers add their own unique voice to it. The direction is top notch from a first time feature-filmmaker Allen Coulter who has cut his teeth in television on such shows as "the Sopranos" (1999-2007), the performances are all top notch, the editing keeps you engaged and immersed in the story despite its often slow pace (a worthy feat that was also overlooked by the Academy...shame on you!). The bottom line is that "Hollywoodland" impressed me from start to finish it's a cinematic gem that will hopefully gain a bigger audience on DVD. Highly recommended.
Video
Presented in a widescreen ratio of 1.78:1, this anamorphic transfer is a very good effort from Universal but that does suffer from a few minor flaws. For the most part the print is sharp and clean although I spotted some grain in darker scenes; the dark scenes were primarily as problem as they appeared flat and lacking in detail. Sometimes it was hard to see what was actually on screen. The colors are rather drab and muted and are presented here accurately. Otherwise I didn't have any other problems with this transfer.
Audio
Two audio tracks are present on this disc for the film, in English Dolby Digital 5.1 and also in French Dolby Digital 5.1, for the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its English soundtrack and found it to be rather good but lacking in depth. The dialogue was clear and distortion free, ambient sounds were present but not impressive. The score transferred well making excellent use of the 5.1 space. Aside from the score, I found the mix a little too front heavy with only little activity in the rear speakers. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired, French and Spanish.
Extras
Universal have released this film with a series of brief extras that include an audio commentary, a collection of three featurettes, some deleted scenes plus a handful of bonus trailers. Below is a closer look at these supplements. First up we have a feature-length audio commentary by director Allen Coulter, in this track Coulter remains mostly screen-specific as he reveals his director's motives for the film with his choices in casting, story elements including parts of the case dramatized for effect, deciding which characters to focus on, framing and photographic techniques to place the viewer in the 1950's period among other things. He's fairly open and insightful about the creative decisions and performances although a lot of the time he does comment on what's actually happening on screen even though he does add some minor details about the background and nuances in the actor's performances it does get a bit tiring considering I can see very clearly exactly what is happening on screen. Overall it's a very astute track that has Coulter talks throughout without any silent gaps. Next up is the first of three featurettes entitled "Recreating Old Hollywood" this clip runs for 6 minutes 54 seconds, in this segment we are granted a look at how the filmmakers recreated the classic Hollywood era in the production design, costumes and make-up. The key cast and crew tell us about the various amounts of research undertaken and extra care to achieve a high level of authenticity. The second featurette is entitled "Behind the Headlines" which runs for 7 minutes 22 seconds, in this clip we get a look at the story that makes up the major thrust of the film and how the filmmakers never intended to make a straight bio-pic but rather a detective drama in the tradition of the classic studio films from that era. The cast all chime in and talk about their characters and their motivations. Finally the last of the featurettes is "Hollywood Then and Now" which runs for 7 minutes 57 seconds and briefly looks at the studio system of contract players and studio bosses from the 1950's and how things are very different today. The clip provides some insight into how stars are groomed to be the glamorous icons that they became. A collection of deleted scenes is presented in a reel that runs for 5 minutes 8 seconds, all these scenes include Simo and seem to be cut mainly for time issues as they are all fairly decent scenes. They include a scene were Simo attends Reeves' funeral, Simo and Patterson listen to a taped phone conversation between Toni Mannix and Reeves, Simo is hassled by cops outside the Mannix house and Simo confronts Patterson at the Police HQ about Toni. Rounding out the extras are some bonus trailers for: - "Catch a Fire" which runs for 38 seconds. - "Hot Fuzz" which runs for 50 seconds. - "Man of the Year" which runs for 32 seconds. - "HD DVD" spot which runs for 2 minutes 50 seconds. These are all start-up previews and can be skipped.
Overall
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