If you grew up watching George Reeves as Superman the first time around or in reruns -- you probably were captivated by his charm, despite the hokiness of the show. You may not know that George's life came to an unexpected early end and under suspicious circumstances.

Hollywoodland focuses it's cameras on this story through the eyes of a private detective whose own life is somewhat desperate. Adrian Brody is brilliant in the part. He sparks the life into a pretty good script. The casting of Ben Afflect for the part of Reeves takes some getting used to. It seems wrong, but eventually he wriggles his way into the suit. Diane Lane is gorgeous and a fine actress. That said, I didn't appreciate the artistic choice to direct their scenes together (Afflect and Lane) with a nostalgic period acting inflection. Perhaps that choice was made to help differentiate the “past tense” scenes that were inserted in the timeline of the detective investigating the death.

It's a film with a strong drive that resolves quite subtly. Some may find that ending disappointing. Myself, I liked it, but thought it could have been executed better -- with more emotional impact. To compound the problem, there’s sort of an undefined wrinkle in the timeline between the end of the Superman series and George’s death which unfortunately leaves the subtle ending feeling somewhat unbalanced.

Despite it's imperfections, the strong direction, script and performance by Brody nudge the picture into the A- range, a stronger climax and resolution would have kept it there. Good to see Joe Spano again. He did a fine job in “Hill Street Blues” all those years ago and is solid here as well.