Hollywoodland

If it weren't for Ben Affleck and Diane Lane (both excellent), I would have given this a LOT lower score. It contains a bunch of things that hugely annoy me... trying to tell a story by way of disjointed flashbacks, and Adrien Brody (he counts multiple times). The whole thing goes COMPLETELY limp at the end with the inter-cutting-of-"home movies" sequence--it's too damn long, and fails to make a compelling correlation between the two characters' demons, though it kills the audience trying.

Nice little mystery. Unfortunately investigation of the death isn't as interesting as the flashback scenes.

Loved Adrien Brody, loved Ben Affleck, loved the premise and the control. This movie stayed with me for days.

i watched the movie absolutely spontaneously and have to say it was absolutely fine. from the actors to the story everything was fine.

Mediocreville.

A decent noir story told without personality (or in generic early 00s packaging). As schrader shows, noir is inherently about mood, but hollywoodland is too hesitant to settle on one. It takes on too many plotlines and can't tie them together tonally - touches slightly in passing many different core noir themes but never commits to developing any of them further.

BACK-FILLING LOAD OF FILMS NOT SEEN FOR A LONG TIME -> Recall/Scores may be 20-30% off. Not at all offended, grateful actually, if U want 2 drop me a cordial msg if think memory dulled a gem or gave a rosy tint to clunker. IE. Tell me WHY Im wrong & what U think I should score. Love film chat/debate|

Saw this a bit ago. Don't remember much other than it wasn't shit and Affleck was a decent choice.

It's a solid mystery that quickly turns its B-story of a troubled investigator into the main one, opening up as a character -- not case -- study. It ultimately works, in large part because of the parallels between the two plots, the way the world slowly looses its style as the timeline progresses, and because of how good Brody is in the role. And you won't see a finer representation of 1950s Hollywood anywhere. I quite enjoyed Hollywoodland, and definitely give it a recommendation.

It's good that the viewer is left to make his own conclusions in the end. Poorly written and too long though, but Brody and Affleck make this watchable.

Adrian Brody isn't one of my favorite actors, neither is Ben Affleck. I tried not to let that affect my judgement on this film. I actually really liked this movie for the most part. It had a very interesting story and I liked the time period that it was set in. I also had some working knowledge of this "suicide of Superman" case. Despite all of that this movie had some really boring parts and had a very vague ending that just ended up disappointing me. I liked it up until the end. Then... blah

This movie was alright. The performances were good. I think I would have enjoyed it more if they had kept all the possible outcomes to near the end of the film.

"A polished but puny imitation of yesteryear's detective yarns." - Nick Schager

Surprisingly captivating, anchored by the performances of Ben Affleck and Adrien Brody. Diane Lane and Bob Hoskins are good as well. As it turns out the "investigation" isn't as interesting as the "why" and "how" Reeves ultimately died. And, ultimately, we still don't know. The film and the mystery is all the more compelling for it. I thought paralleling the two main characters was a fantastic idea, suggesting that Simo learned from Reeve's downfall.

"Hollywoodland" doesn't try to be breathtaking, but is a hugely engaging take on Hollywood and exploitation despite its subtle tone. The mystery is dense but evolves smoothly and the cast (an excellent Adrien Brody with support from Diane Lane, Bob Hoskins and a guy that resembles Martin Scorsese) is majestic.

Not the best old timey detective story, but I really liked Affleck in this.

Great roles by Brody and Affleck. The investigations are rather poorly written, but the good flashbacks save a lot.

Pretty good movie, kind of a dull ending.

Actually kind of underrated, in my opinion. Adrien Brody and...yes...Ben Afleck are fantastic.

Has a certain something, mostly with Ben Affleck being abnormally well-cast. The tragic focus of his character is the redeeming factor when the detective angle goes into ho-hum territory.

Admirable for the way it presents all the evidence, and ponders several interpretations of Reeves' murder/"suicide" without forcing one on you. It is an unsolved crime, after all. It helps that this is also a well-made film, but compare that one difference to De Palma's Black Dahlia and this is leagues better. The ending leaves a bit to be desired, but Affleck is powerful in a role that somewhat mirrors his own career, and Brody makes for a serviceable lead. Good performances. Good film.

Brody and Affleck's performances alone are maing this movie worth watching. The rest of it is way too straight-forward for it to carry any real interest.

Bad technicals, but otherwise all right everywhere else.

Ben Affleck's best performance.

Films that try to rehash noir dectective stories of the 40s/50s are always terrible no matter who they manage to get for the cast. Brody does not save this spiritless abortion of a homage.

I was really excited to see it, and then it turned out to be MASSIVELY.....BORING.....

okay

Compelling; held my attention. But kinda heavy and sad.

For some unusual reason, the best parts of this film were the flashback sequences that followed Ben Affleck as George Reeves and the months that led up to his death. In these sequences the performances were above par, and the story felt like it had a purpose in exploring the notions of fame and the Hollywood life. The main narrative, concerning the investigation of Reeve's death, felt sluggish and contrived with Brody turning in a bored performance. Kudos to the production designer and costumer

Ben who ? Brody was the shit.

Everyone's doing fine work, especially Affleck, who gives Reeves great humanity and dignity. But, why then, is this actually more Adrien Brody's film... Sincere and earnest, but match it against a film like "The Aviator" and it pales...

It's as much about the death of the old Hollywood system as it is the death of Reeves, consummately manufactured in the cold, assured fashion of the biting, noir-ish style of Hollywood's yesteryear.

Hollywoodland is good (to me) because they present all of the possibilities of what happened to George Reeves, but don't force any on you. They let you make your own decision based on the evidence. There were a decent amount of moments when the film drags, but overall it's still good. Adrien Brody was excellent, and some might be pleasantly surprised to see Ben Affleck's performance as well. If you're at all interested in the story of George Reeves' death, give this a whirl.

Three surprisingly good movies - a lurid biopic, an essay on Hollywood's culture of corruption and (an albeit half-baked) murder mystery - awkwardly grafted together.

Good film.