Allen Coulter's Hollywoodland, from 2006, aspires to be a modernist take on LA noir like Chinatown and L.A. Confidential, but ended up a failure with only muffled attempts at cinematic style. Coulter is a good TV director, but can't transcend a muddled script that attempts to put a Rashomon spin on the suicide of George Reeves. Ben Affleck is miscast as Reeves despite his Superman status. Reeves was a chunky, two bit supporting player and not the Adonis A star that is our Ben. Affleck underplays his charm for a nice deprecating effect, as in Chasing Amy. This spark of charisma is badly needed as Adrian Brody sucks up all the film's oxygen as a screenwriter/detective (!) obsessed with Reeves' demise. Brody is difficult to cast as the lead in any film and seems destined for sinister or wacky supporting roles. Diane Lane wins the acting laurels by portraying Reeves' older love with desperation and acerbic relish. Joe Santos is very good as a fixer, but Robin Tunney is miscast as a party girl; they should have gone with Fairuza Balk. Hollywoodland is a mess with glimpses of the better films that inspired it contained within. (4/9/18)
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