Almost There: Ben Affleck in "Hollywoodland"
Tuesday, March 31, 2020 at 10:00AM 
Ben Affleck may be one of Hollywood's A-listers, but he's not quite respected as an artist. More precisely, he's not often celebrated for being a performer, having otherwise received plenty of acclaim for his work as a director and producer. Just look at his awards history. He's gotten very little love for his acting skills but won two Academy Awards, for writing Good Will Hunting and for producing Argo. Had he been nominated for directing the latter, as it was widely expected, he'd probably have added another little golden man to his collection. It's difficult to feel bad for the fellow, but, at the same time, Affleck's reputation as a subpar actor isn't completely warranted.
While it's true his range is narrow, when cast in the right role, Ben Affleck can be quite impressive. You'll find no better example of that than 2006's Hollywoodland…
Allen Coulter's crime drama is a riff on noir tropes and Hollywood History. It portrays the real-life mystery surrounding George Reeves's suspicious death in 1959, by focusing on the efforts of a private detective who's trying to uncover the truth. Throughout the investigation, the seedy underbelly of tinsel town is slowly revealed and the film presents a peculiar sort of character study, using the echoes of the dead to illuminate the souls of the living. In that respect, it's similar to Otto Preminger's Laura, only there's no convoluted resurrection and the romantic undertones of the 1940s classic are made into a homosocial obsession.
While the premise of the film borrows much of its themes and tropes from the noirs of old, its style is tediously sterile. The tragedy of the actor who played Superman on TV is embalmed in various shades of brown, gray and lifeless beige, the cutting is perfunctory and the compositions follow the same line. Structurally speaking, Hollywoodland is more Julie & Julia than Laura, alternating between protagonists in a way that only serves to emphasize how uninteresting one story is in relation to the other. In the case of Hollywoodland, this qualitative contrast is only exacerbated by the cast.
As the investigator, Adrien Brody is perfectly fine, but he never manages to make the introspection demanded by the script into something that's interesting to watch. Ben Affleck, on the other hand, plays Reeves with such seamlessness that one has no other choice but to stare open-mouthed at this feat of perfect casting. George Reeves was never a performer lauded for his acting talent. Examining his filmography, we see hints of charisma, but his overall presence is mainly marked by shallowness. His performances were surface-level exercises, skin deep characterizations that dazzled but rarely convinced. In other words, George Reeves was an actor very similar to Ben Affleck.
The symbiosis of role and performer is rather startling in its success, especially when Hollywoodland's second protagonist is asked to present us the brittleness of Reeves as a celebrity. During one of his first scenes, Affleck makes a show out of the stunted playacting that his character indulges in. For this Superman of the small screen, acting seems to be mainly about striking poses and he turns that into a little game of seduction. A beautiful woman asks him to be a hero and he looks in the distance with a soft frown, she asks him to be stoic and he draws a straight line with his mouth. In Affleck's hands, such a moment is funny but there's a hint of sadness behind it all.
Maybe it's not sadness, though, maybe it's emptiness. This TV star seems unable to see a brightness in his future, placidly whining about his fruitless career and doomed love affairs. Reeves' charm may make him the center of attention but it's hollow, his smiles have no genuine mirth behind them and his eyes are dead inside. Take the cameras away, remove the audience and we get a man suffering from chronic dissatisfaction, an insouciant brat that feels entitled to more than what life offers and is never happy. Such an attitude could be insufferable to witness, but Affleck somehow makes it into something that's fascinating to watch, peeling the arrogant matinee idol façade one layer at a time.
These pathetic depressed men, sleazy but handsome, those who can easily seduce but don't satisfy, are a specialty for the actor. Apart from the melancholic wonder of George Reeves, his best performance is probably in Gone Girl playing a similar breed of entitled guy, one who we disdain and pity in equal measure. For the David Fincher flick, he got no awards buzz, though he came close to a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Hollywoodland. His work is certainly more interesting than 60% of the 2006 Oscar line-up. At least, he got nods from the Globes and Critics Choice Award and even won the prestigious Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival.
Reader Comments (16)
Not a single mention of Diane Lane??
Shame on you, Claudio ;-)
He deserved a nomination for Gone Girl, but that movie deserved way more Academy love in general.
I've just watched THE WAY BACK a couple of days ago and I think (and hope) he gets some award attention for his acting. Have a look: it's the most soulful Ben Affleck I've seen on screen since HOLLYWOODLAND and I'll include him in my Oscars 2021 predictions for Best Actor at this point (if the coronavirus doesn't "destroy" the next edition of the Oscars)
I saw it. It's...sorry, I think this not being nominated was absolutely a "dodged a bullet" moment. Outside of Gone Girl (which would have been a decent nomination), I think he's universally TERRIBLE as a dramatic actor. Soulful? I remember him being dead here. Ben Affleck, as performer, highlights? Other than the already mentioned Gone Girl, I'd also point people to Dogma and Extract.
I don't feel sorry for non-artists collecting prizes for artistry. It was trash how he was pitied over a lack of directorial recognition. Babying pretty faced white boys over Hollywood snobbery is bullshit. Pick a struggle.
Afleck and specially Lane are very good in the movie but the problem is that there is too much time on the Adrien Brody character who the is the least interesting person in the movie
But he's not a good actor, like, at all? He has some decent performances, but decent is not enough for awards. In Hollywood, his performances seems to be under that classic direction filmmakers give to non-actors (like Eminem, for exemple): DON'T TRY TO ACT. And emptiness becomes minimalism by miracle? Not really.
Ben Affleck has never - and will never - deliver a performance worthy of an Oscar.
We're all in isolation because Zellweger won a second Oscar. It's proof the world is ending.
MJC- LOL
This post is really pushing it. Whether he was almost nominated or not (regardless of the quality of the performance, which happens very, very often at the Oscars), one has to try really hard to create a valid argument that this performance is worthy of recognition. Affleck represents everything that is wrong and condemnable about Hollywood and the Oscars. Let them have him, but he has no place on this website, which sings praises to real artists - he is not an artist. He may be an entertainer and a pretty bland one at that. I have never seen any soul in his eyes, in or out of the movies, because he is someone who grew up being validated for being white and handsome and never had to develop his "self" to succeed. He is and always will be mediocre. I would never say this to his face, I don't mean to be mean to the guy - he is a human being. But I'm just saying this here objectively. I wish him all the best in his life and career.
As good as Affleck is, Diane Lane absolutely walks away with this movie. It was she who deserved Oscar buzz. For someone no one can say a bad word about in her industry, she plays a villain well. Her "You'll get publicity" scene is is just dripping with venom that she kept up and now has to spill out. But her last scene- "George? He was the most beautiful boy" with her voice cracking always gets me. Lane crafted a complicated woman and deserves a lot more praise for this performance.
I've always thought it funny that most people know Ben Affleck as an actor and director and yet he Oscars for... writing and producing.
"These pathetic depressed men, sleazy but handsome, those who can easily seduce but don't satisfy, are a specialty for the actor"
Ouch.
I'm surprise tt thr's no mention o Diane Lane too??
She oso recv excellent reviews.
Is this really TFE?? The Actressexual site?? 😂
He's never ever given a good or even decent performance.
Affleck was robbed in "Hollywoodland".
He deserved a nomination.
Only Arkin and Hounsou was better that year.