Hollywoodland | The Black Dahlia | The Covenant
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Hollywoodland

Whenever some new version or incantation of the Superman franchise starts up one of the first things you hear mentioned is the “Superman Curse.” According to legend/superstition, any actor who’s played Superman has met with a tragic end. Christopher Reeves had everyone and their mother asking if he was Stephen Hawking’s twin brother for the last 9 years of his life, Dean Cain is hosting Ripley’s Believe it or Not and Brandon Routh who played Superman in last summer’s Superman Returns took a dive over the handlebars of his motorcycle last June. Oh, and George Reeves who played Superman on the ‘50s TV show allegedly committed suicide.

Which brings us to Hollywoodland, the big screen version of how George Reeves died. Adrien Brody plays the detective/wannabe hired by the actor’s mother to find out what really happened when she doesn’t agree with the cops’ conclusion. All he needed to tell mom was that her son was either gay or owed money to the mob, but then we wouldn’t have a modern take on film noir or a halfway interesting story.

Brody, Diane Lane and Bob Hoskins all do a great job, but the real standout goes to Ben Affleck, who plays Reeves. I’d forgotten that he can be a good actor when he drops off the face of the earth for 2 years and somehow manages to make you forget about his litany of bad personal choices. Hollywoodland looks great and sinks more shots than it misses. If nothing else, it’s cool to see a movie where a lot of people smoke, wear fedoras and don’t use cell phones. Oh! And it’s not Superman Returns. Almost forgot to mention that.