On the Big Board |
| Position |
Staff |
In Brief |
| 20/68 |
Michael Bentley |
The good murder mystery leaves you with more questions than answers. Affleck and Brody are both impressive. |
George Reeves (Ben Affleck) was an American icon as television's first Man of Steel. In the early 1950s he represented every boy's ideal of manhood. He had a barrel chest, a latex costume, heat vision and the power of flight. He was also impervious to bullets, an irony considering that his real life cause of death was a gunshot wound.
The subject of Superman's death became the stuff of myth and legend in a town recognized worldwide for its love of gossip. The death was ruled a suicide at first but the mother of the victim didn't believe that. Why would her son, George, choose to kill himself the week he was to be married to girlfriend Leonore Lemmon?
Mrs. Reeves hired a private detective to fully research the details of her son's death. Skeptical at first, investigator Louis Simo (Adrien Brody) was in no position financially to turn down television star money. As he delved into the seedy life of the Man of Steel, he was shocked to discover any number of details about the man's life.
One of the most surprising tidbits was that George Reeves never bothered to hide the fact that he was cuckolding the president of MGM studios, Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins), one of the most powerful men in Hollywood. Was this a motive for murder or merely a sordid coincidence?
As the drama plays out Detective Simo finds things hitting a little too close to home as he begins to notice parallels between his case and his own life.
With viable comparisons to L.A. Confidential and Crash, Hollywoodland hopes to be similarly embraced by audiences, critics, and nominating bodies alike. (David Mumpower/BOP)
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