Hollywoodland
Focus Features | Release Date: September 8, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
15
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
Ultimately falls short of reaching the pleasingly pulpy heights of an "L.A. Confidential" or a "Chinatown" despite those obvious aspirations. Read full review
60
VarietyTodd McCarthy
First-time scripter Paul Bernbaum's framing story, designed to stir up suspicion that George Reeves was a murder victim rather than a suicide, unfortunately proves far less intriguing than does the melancholy tale of a limited actor reaching the end of the line during a transitional period in Hollywood. Read full review
60
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
Thanks to Lane, Hollywoodland, no great shakes as a thriller, becomes a quiet horror story about the monstrosity of time. Read full review
60
Washington PostStephen Hunter
And though brilliantly acted, it's not. For some reason, the director and the writer (Paul Bernbaum) have chosen an exceedingly awkward path into the materials. They break the narrative into two strands and play them off each other in cheap and easy ways for insubstantial effect. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
This overly derivative motion picture thinks it is doing and saying more than it is. Instead, it ends up as little more than a reasonable facsimile of the real thing, despite a subtle and effective performance by Ben Affleck, of all people. Read full review
60
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Even though Brody works hard -- and he's got those magnificent drooping eyes, which suggest both innocence and a seen-it-all-before weariness -- his scenes don't spark, and the movie drags around them. Read full review
58
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
This movie might have been better if it hadn't fashioned itself as a cross between "Citizen Kane" and "Chinatown," and instead had used Reeves's story to dramatize the transitional state of 1950s Hollywood. Read full review
58
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
A film not nearly as intriguing as it should have been, centering on a death that isn't nearly as intricately fascinating as the filmmakers think. Exacerbating the problem is a cast of actors who seem too self-consciously playacting. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
The window Hollywoodland offers into old-style workings of the company town is fascinating to behold, however the film doesn't always know where to direct our gaze. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Ben Affleck has packed on the pounds, slipped on some tights and given this exasperating film far more than it gives in return. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle Smith
They'll say that this year's two Superman pictures could not be more different, but they'll be wrong: Like "Superman Returns," Hollywoodland is laden with atmosphere but moves like it has lead in its tights. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Hollywoodland has scraps of old movie glamour. It also has shades of later movies that sullied all that class and refinement with a lurid touch, namely Roman Polanski's "Chinatown." But that's all Hollywoodland is: scraps and shade. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
The film, actually, is a little like Reeves himself: It starts promisingly and trails off into indistinctness and mystery. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Ends up as colorless as Reeves' first Superman suit. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
Reeves had an easy but peppy presence that was very likable, and Affleck's moroseness doesn't do him justice...and it doesn't help that Adrien Brody--as the film's ­other protagonist, a burnt-out gumshoe--is more actorish than the supposed actor. Read full review
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