Acting, direction and writing poignantly evoke the mystery of 'Superman's' death

The 1959 suicide of actor George Reeves, who starred in the "Superman" television series of the '50s, has been an enduring Hollywood mystery for nearly half a century. Broke and typecast, Reeves' suicide was hardly unmotivated, but its circumstances seem fishy.

MOVIE REVIEW

HOLLYWOODLAND

DIRECTOR: Allen Coulter

CAST: Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, Ben Affleck, Bob Hoskins

RUNNING TIME: 126 minutes

RATING: R for language, some violence and sexual content

GRADE: B+

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In "Hollywoodland," those circumstances are faithfully recorded, and the various theories of foul play are aired in the midst of a neo-film-noir drama that's half Reeves biopic and half fictional private-eye thriller in the "Chinatown" mode.

The film's inconclusive nature may frustrate movie fans who need neat solutions to their mysteries. Others will find it a fun guessing game full of intriguing possibilities -- and an unusual interactive experience that allows the viewer to make up his or her own mind.

Most of the casting is good, the performances are strong, the writing is imaginative and, despite Canadian locations and a relatively low budget for a period piece (less than $20 million), the film's evocation of its era is immaculate.

The story begins at the death scene just after the shooting: Reeves' house in Benedict Canyon, where, in the midst of a party, the 45-year-old actor (Ben Affleck) has gone upstairs and, with absolutely no warning to anyone, blown out his brains.

From here, the movie flashes back to tell how Reeves came to this sad place, from the time he met his mentor, Toni Mannix (Diane Lane), wife of MGM executive Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins), through his up-and-down experience as TV's "Superman."

And it also moves forward to probe the mystery of the death through the point of view of a down-on-his-luck, aspiring private eye (Adrien Brody), who wangles his way into the case by convincing Reeves' mother -- publicly doubtful of her son's suicide -- to hire him.

As a traditional thriller, "Hollywoodland" doesn't completely come off, largely because its complex flashback structure never allows it to gain much momentum, but also because Brody simply doesn't have the star power to make his hardboiled character very appealing.

At the same time, while the various murder scenarios that the script explores are all fascinating, none is singularly compelling, or wraps up all the loose ends in a convincing way. So, as fun as it is, the film is a bit of a shaggy-dog story.

But it packs surprising punch as a biopic. Its period detail is intricate, its dialogue blissfully free of anachronisms and its CGI-technology (digitally putting Affleck in the old TV series, an episode of "I Love Lucy" and a scene of "From Here to Eternity") uncanny.

First-time feature director Allen Coulter (TV's "The Sopranos") does an exceptional job of capturing Reeves' dilemma -- the unique horror of being hugely famous but not rich, hopelessly typecast and not taken seriously as an actor by himself or anyone else.

Coulter also manages to capture the dynamics of Reeves' strangely poignant relationship with his older lover (played by an almost unrecognizable Diane Lane) and of conveying the disillusioning impact Reeves' death had on the baby-boom generation.

As Reeves, Affleck gives his best performance to date. Without seeming to try very hard, he totally captures the pathos of an amiable, somewhat shallow man swallowed up in a tawdry fame he doesn't want, and knowing in his heart that he will never escape it.

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