Hollywoodland

This movie is dark. It starts with the police line at George Reeves' house following the call which reported his suicide. The movie follows two different paths. One is a private eye, played by Adrian Brody ("King Kong"), who is separated from his wife and can't cheer up his little son who is depressed over "Superman's" death.

The other is a series of flashbacks that trace Reeves' career from his role in "Gone With The Wind," through a period of unemployment, then, to his dismay, his casting in the role of Superman. Reeves is capably played by Ben Affleck ("Pearl Harbor" and "Jersey Girl").

He has a fairly long fling with the wife of one of Hollywood's prominent producers (Bob Hoskins, who bears absolutely NO resemblance to the guy in "Mrs. Henderson!"). She buys him a house, jewelry, wristwatches, clothes, a car, etc., etc., etc. When he goes to New York after the TV show is cancelled, he is trying to get a job as a director. While there, he meets an ambitious starlet who immediately seduces him and convinces him he "has never felt this way before."

The movie depicts three options. We get to watch all three.

• An accidental shooting by the starlet girlfriend,
• a murder contracted for by the producer, and
• a suicide.

All in all, everyone does a good job, particularly Affleck and Hoskins, but it really is a downer.