Movie Review: Hollywoodland

This weekend I was able to break away from my hectic schedule to go to lunch and a movie. Lunch was fair, we went to Yoshino's which for anyone not familiar with Fresno is a Japanese Restauant which does traditional dining, Teppanyaki, and has a Sushi Bar. It is only the second time I can recall having gone to Yoshino's, we typically frequent a crosstown rival by the name of Edo-Ya. After dining at Yoshino's it was easy to see why we have favored its competition, while the salmon and cream cheese sushi was appetizing the main course lacked the taste of Edo-Ya's food.

Enough with the food, let's move on to the entertainment. Being that there are a couple of films either in the theater or opening soon that I want to see Jamie was kind enough to allow me to select the movie we would watch. I feel bad for her when this happens because she usually doesn't enjoy alot of the same movies that I do but she was sweet enough to let me select Hollywoodland. For anyone that doesn't know, Hollywoodland is the film that just opened this weekend in which Ben Affleck (who I can't stand) plays George Reeve's, famous for his role as television's Superman. In 1959 George Reeve's committed suicide, this movie was the story of a private investigator (played by Oscar deserving Adrien Brody) hired by Reeve's mother to look into his suicide to see if possibly it was a murder case. The movie switches back and forth regulary between Adrien Brody's investigation and scenes of Georges Reeves life. Diane Lane also does an excellent job in the film portraying Toni Maddox, a woman married to a hollywood executive which George Reeves has a long-lasting affair with. Although I am far from a fan of Ben Affleck I will say he does a decent job in this role, I almost forgot I was watching him, which is definitely a good thing. Adrien Brody shines throughout. This is definitely a slower moving, more involved viewing and if you are not a fan of films such as LA Confidential and Memento I would strongly recommend staying away from this film, otherwise I highly recommend it.