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George Reeves: the man who inadvertently began the Superman myth that actors who assume the role come to a sad end.  Brandon Routh was even asked about it in one of the supplements on the Superman Returns releases.  Reeves was an ambitious actor, trying to enjoy a satisfying career in Hollywood, longing for stardom that eluded him.  He had over fifty film credits, mostly in forgettable films, but with minor roles in Gone With The Wind, From Here To Eternity, and Cecil B. DeMille's Samson and Delilah.  Reeves was forced to make the transition to television, ultimately becoming the Man of Steel for a low-budget children’s show.  It ran from 1951 to 1958, and he became so hopelessly associated with the role that when the show was cancelled, he was unemployable.  His last credit other than for The Adventures of Superman was a guest appearance on I Love Lucy . . . as Superman.  On June 16th, 1959, at the age of 45, he died from what was deemed a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.  Who would have thought that his story could be a compelling motion picture, and that it would provide Ben Affleck with his finest role in years?

The film is told in two parallel stories.  Louis Simo (Adrien Brody) is a sleazy, bottom- feeding private detective.  Simo is divorced from his wife, Laurie (Molly Parker), and has a difficult relationship with his young son, Evan (Zach Mills), who seems distraught over Superman’s death.  In the aftermath of the suicide, he cons Reeve’s mother, Helen Bessolo (Lois Smith), into hiring him to investigate what she believes was a murder.  Simo will do some digging, but his only interest is generating sufficient publicity and noise to keep his fifty dollars per day fee going.  He will uncover more than he expects.

Like all good mysteries, more than one suspect immerges.  Reeves was having a long-term affair with Toni Mannix (Diane Lane), the wife of MGM’s studio head, Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins).  In an odd dynamic, the Mannix’s tolerate each other’s lovers, but the ruthless husband is highly protective of his wife’s happiness.  When Reeves becomes infatuated with a pretty, gold digging actress, Leonore Lemmon (Robin Tunney) and makes her his fiancé, the wife is distraught and vicious Mannix is angry.  Not that things go well with Lemmon . . . Reeves may have realized that their relationship was a huge mistake.  Was she capable of violence as well?

Simo discovers other odd clues.  When he bribes his way into the morgue, Simo finds unexplained bruises on Reeves’ body.  And weeks before, Reeves had a car accident with a mysterious cause.  Add to the mix a tried and true gumshoe plot device, a beating or two to discourage Simo’s investigation, and the private dick begins to believe that he’s stumbled upon a real murder.

This film took me quite by surprise.  I had no idea that Reeves’ life had been so messy.  The screenplay by Paul Bernbaum is well structured and based on reality, albeit with a composite character in the form of the private detective.  The film seems to move in two parallel worlds: the hype and glamour of ‘50s Hollywood and the seamy underbelly of the town.  The principal actors are uniformly excellent.  Adrien Brody’s Simo is a wonderful set of contradictions: sleazy but ultimately driven to discover the truth; just as ambitious and frustrated as Reeves; aloof but emotionally connected to his son and wary ex-wife.  His investigation of George Reeve’s life will be transforming.  Diane Lane’s Toni Mannix is another complex performance, confident and sexy, then vulnerable and reduced to despair.  And Ben Affleck does a fine job of portraying an actor who never achieved the fame and fortune he so desperately craved.  His Reeves is a kept man with eroding self-respect; Affleck projects likeability and evokes sympathy as Reeves descends from cocky to hopeless. 

Simo visualizes several versions of Reeve’s death in the bedroom of the home that was a gift from Toni Maddix, each scenario no less plausible than the last.  And as we approach the closing credits, despite the implication that one version may now be dominant in Simo’s mind, the viewer is left with more questions than answers.  It’s a mystery.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 is presented in a rather disappointing anamorphic video transfer.  Typical for Focus Film DVD releases, the images are contaminated with noticeable halos throughout.  The overall impression is soft, with poor finely grained textures and below average small object detail.  Even faces in close-up don’t reveal the usual pores and normal imperfections.  Color is a bit odd.  Virtually the entire film leans slightly toward red.  This is particularly visible in the gray scale, where the tint is not neutral but tinged with various levels of pink.  Greens become muddy and flesh tones are a tad too red.  The chroma level is a bit low as well, imparting an impression of artificial film age.  Black levels almost reach the darkness of the thin letterbox bars.  Shadow detail is fine, but the tint is somewhat distracting.  Some of the same scenes in the supplements have a more natural color timing, so I have to assume that the look of the feature film is an artistic decision by the filmmakers.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

As is common with dramas that focus on character studies, this is a dialog-driven film.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, the only audio track on the disc, is front-centric.  If there were any surround effects, they slipped past me as entirely too subtle to be noticed.  As I’ve frequently reported before for similar tracks, the sound effects don’t call attention to themselves; they simply support the onscreen action.  Even the gunshot from the 9 mm Luger Parabellum, a handgun I’ve fired on the target range and can attest as being a particularly loud weapon, sounds anemic.  Deep bass is not present.  The understated and moody score by Marcelo Zarvos also doesn’t draw attention to itself and is presented with reasonable fidelity, but without the illusion of spaciousness I’ve found on other discs.  The dialog remains distortion-free throughout, but is mixed oddly.  Quieter moments, in which the actors’ voices are subdued or even voiced in a loud whisper, seem louder than when the actors raise their voices.  The dynamic range of speech seems limited and perhaps as a consequence the amplitudes almost feel inverted.  An odd effect.

The single audio track is supported by optional subtitles in English SDH, French, and Spanish.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

The disc opens with a collection of Universal Studios Home Entertainment trailers (4:51): Catch a Fire; Hot Fuzz; Man of the Year; and, an extensive HD DVD promo.

The Re- creating Old Hollywood featurette (6:55) is a nice expression of how the filmmakers brought the former glamour of the town to the screen.  I was surprised to learn about subtleties and details that clearly affected my viewing experience but were not overt.  Costume design, set design, camera techniques, and make-up are mentioned in this short featurette.

The Behind the Headlines featurette (7:23) emphasizes the efforts made to stay truthful to the biographical facts.  The principal players and filmmakers all voice their views.  We even hear briefly from Jack Larson who played Jimmy Olson in the television series (Larson also has a cameo in the film, but I won’t tell you when).  This is contrasted against the fictional character of Simo, and how his arc was both a counterpoint and a parallel.

Hollywood Then and Now is a featurette (7:58) that differentiates between the studio culture of the ‘50s and today.  Punctuated with archive footage, it’s overwhelmingly a description of how the studio system used to work.  Those of you who are fans of film are likely to be familiar with the material, but for those that are not, this is a fascinating little summary of a tyrannical past that lends credence to an implication of movie executives covering up a murder.

The Deleted Scenes (5:09) are presented sequentially without explanation or commentary.  There are three.  One adds unnecessary detail to the relationship between Reeves and his agent.  The other two define a subplot of a relationship between Simo and an L.A. police detective.  Good scenes all, but likely trimmed for running time.

This leaves the commentary by director Allen Coulter.  The director is quite chatty, describing the artistic decisions and approaches he took to bring ‘50s Hollywood to the screen.  He talks about the two styles of shooting used for Simo and Reeves.  The first is with wider lenses and handheld cameras; the later is with longer lenses and more stable camera techniques, predominantly locked down or dollied.  The director does lapse into explaining character motivation from time to time, but overwhelmingly he invests his time with small, consequential facets that demonstrate his attention to detail.  An enjoyable track.

The 127-minute film is organized into twenty chapters.

Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?

None are included on this disc.

Final Thoughts

A disappointing transfer shouldn’t dampen your enthusiasm to enjoy an intriguing story and fine performances.  This is an unexpectedly fascinating story about a minor icon of his times.  A good collection of reasonable supplements simply make the disc that much more worthwhile.  Recommended.