You make it sound like he did something scandalous. What is he guilty of?
Ben-Lo. That’s what he’s guilty of!
Anyway, saw it tonight. It was rather “meh” in that the screenplay tried to do too much by telling three separate stories: George Reeves’ life in the 1950s, Adrian Brody and his search for the truth, and Adrian Brody and his son. 1/3 biopic, 1/3 whodunit, 1/3 Lifetime Movie of the Week.
The third story was completely superfluous, added as a heavy, ham-fisted metaphor which totally stopped the film whenever it appeared. It was the only bad element in an otherwise OK film. Affleck did a pretty good job with the thankless task offered: he had to portray a man who might’ve been depressed enough to take his own life… or not.
The films focus is on Adrian Brody, probably to its detriment. He’s a fine actor, but I’ve never considered him true leading material.
All in all, 7/10. And I’m probably being generous.
Well, remind me to never read anything of hers. Reeves may not have been the finest actor to ever tread the boards, but he was a damn sight better than 2/3rds of the ones working today (Keanu Reeves, I’m looking in your direction). I think that if he’d been given the chance, he could have pulled off a film noir role easily.
AuntiePam, thank you for fowarding the link, IMHO, jumblejim’s contribution has to rank as one of the finest in the history of the SDMB.
I meant the whole Gigli Ben-lo thing. Not that he killed anybody or insulted the Jews or anything, but the media saturation at the time had some saying his recent box office failures were because of this. Whether this is the reason or not, he hasn’t had a hit in a while. And the cheating on Matt as well 
I feel obliged to note a very early Staff Report: Was “Superman” star George Reeves a suicide–or murder victim? … which raises the questions that jumblejim so nicely answers.
I was at the advance screening with stargazer and her husband. Good cast, very well acted all around; competent direction, if short of inspired (definitely the first film by a TV guy); very good period design; and a workmanlike if occasionally clunky screenplay. Overall, I’d say B, maybe B+ for a handful of very good moments make the film worth seeing: Reeves slouching in his seat at the first screening of From Here to Eternity, for example, or the very creepy “he deserves a statue.”
It ain’t no L.A. Confidential, but then what the hell is?
Well, Ben Affleck has won Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival for his role as George Reeves. Certainly, his performance (as well as Lane’s) are the things that seem to consistently get the best notices out of otherwise so-so reviews (it’s hovering in the 60s on both Rotten Tomatoes and MetaCritic).
Jim – excellent summation of the case. I wonder – do you think it’s possible that Reeves was just fooling around with his gun and shot himself by accident? He was drunker than I’ve ever been in my life, and it is the sort of thing that seems to happen fairly often when drunks handle loaded weapons.
Of course, that’s not as dramatic as either murder or suicide. People want a story to have a dramatic ending, but so often in real life it’s just sad and anticlimactic.
I think anything Ben ever did was forgotten when it was overshadowed by an even bigger star’s couch-jumping and psychiatry-bashing escapades.
As someone said, Ben at least seems to have a sense of humor about himself which makes him more forgivable.
Heck, it’s been known to happen to sober people. Mary Tyler Moore’ son was killed when the gun he was cleaning went off and killed him. According to her, the gun was later recalled because of design flaws. One of the members of ZZ Top was wounded when the gun he was carrying in his boot fell out and went off.
Thus becoming one of the first Hollywood stars to die from H.
If I didn’t already admire you greatly, I would indeed have to form an attachment based on that sentence alone. 
I suppose calling it “Faster than a Speeding Bullet” would have been considered very poor taste.
Finally got around to watching Hollywoodland.
I remembered the reviews saying how good Ben Affleck’s performance was, but few of them said that the movie only comes to live when he’s on screen. The Adrien Brody half of the movie was almost without redeeming qualities: sheer cliché from beginning to end. How anybody who could write the sparkling dialog of the Affleck scenes could make the other half so dull is a bigger mystery than anything about Reeve’s death.
The re-creation of 50s Hollywood was also extremely well done, the best I can remember offhand certainly.
that is a tad alarming. i sat through a dvd of *‘paycheck’ * at home - then looked to the divemaster to demand my money back. :rolleyes:
Just saw it over the weekend. Really a great film - sure the noir parts were played a bit too noir to blend in with the attempt to peg this as a real bio-flick murder mystery, but I enjoyed the 50’s feel and the way the story played out.
I am not a Ben Affleck fan - don’t dislike him either - but thought he did a great job. For once his own personal story didn’t distract from the character - if anything, quite the opposite. But either way, he seemed to inhabit Reeves very effectively.
And “Slower than a Speeding Bullet” would have been more accurate.