Schedule a visit to 'Hollywoodland'

How do you turn a truly remarkable, mysterious story into a movie without it losing it to flopville? If you're the average director, you start by having one of Hollywood's top writers write you a script. But if you're director Allen Coulter (known for his work with "The Sopranos"), you may decide to pair up with someone like Paul Bernbaum and hope that, along with an all-star cast, your outcome is the exceptional movie, "Hollywoodland". In this case, your hopes would be justified. \nThe movie takes a deeper look at one of Hollywood's most mysterious deaths. Actor George Reeves (Ben Affleck), who made his film debut in "Gone With The Wind", was best known for playing Superman in television's "Adventures of Superman". On the night of June 16, 1959, Reeves died in his Hollywood Hills home from a single gunshot to his head, leaving behind his fiancée Leonore Lemmon (Robin Tunney) and tons of shocked fans. The Los Angeles Police Department decides to close the case, leaving the conclusion that Reeves had committed suicide.\nBut Reeves' mother, Helen Bessolo (Lois Smith), refuses to cope with the idea that her son ended his life. Convinced that there are non-suicidal circumstances surrounding the death, Helen hires private detective Louis Simo (Adrien Brody), to investigate the death. Simo seems to believe that the affair Reeves had had with Toni Mannix (Diane Lane), wife of MGM studio executive Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins) may hold the truth behind Reeves unexpected death. Simo continues his quest for the truth and even risks his life to uncover Reeves' so-called suicide, while also finding the case has some connections to his own personal life.\nThe movie follows Simo's investigation while also showing flashbacks of Reeves before his death, which can make the movie a little hard to follow. Yet, overall, the movie was not only able to entertain but intrigue.\nAside from being well cast, "Hollywoodland" was beautifully shot, and able to recap the glamour of Tinseltown in the late 1950's. From the scenery and set to the constant lighting of cigarettes on screen, few movies have been able to recreate that period in time as believably as this. The acting was phenomenal. Diane Lane, Adrien Brody and Bob Hoskins' performances are all Oscar-worthy. And it's nice to see that the "Good Will Hunting" Ben Affleck is back (I know many thought we'd never see that side of him again after his recent movie flops). It seems he has finally redeemed himself.\nI left the movie amazed at learning it had a running time of just over 2 hours, as time seems to fly by in this movie. Even if you are unfamiliar with the story behind George Reeves' death, the movie will leave you hypnotized with the thought of whether the death was, in fact, a suicide or a murder committed by someone familiar with Reeves' personal life.