Hollywoodland

Ben Affleck takes a significant stride toward correcting his frat-boy-actor image in an engrossing portrayal of George Reeves, the actor popular for playing the Man of Steel on television’s "Adventures of Superman" series in the ‘50s. Reeves ‘suicide,’ after the show’s cancellation in 1959, instigates L.A. private detective Louis Simo’s homicide investigation at the behest of Reeves’ bereaved mother Helen Bessolo (Lois Smith). Adrien Brody delivers a winning performance as the embattled private investigator in director Allen Coulter’s (director on "The Sopranos") stunning feature film debut. Production designer Leslie McDonald ("Intolerable Cruelty") brings the film’s California noir period atmosphere to brilliant life with an assured eye for detail that immerses the viewer in Hollywood’s most fetishized decade.

Rated R. 126 mins. (B+) (Four Stars)