Mark Rahner's DVD Pick

Call "Hollywoodland" (Universal, R, $29.98) Spandex noir.

The mystery about a fictional seedy private eye (Adrien Brody) sticking his proboscis into the real shady death of TV's Superman, George Reeves (Ben Affleck), came as a nice, sordid palate-cleanser after a year that approached Super-burnout. Last year saw the release of the movie "Superman Returns"; five seasons of Reeves' "The Adventures of Superman" on DVD; the 1948 and '50 serials starring Kirk Alyn; Richard Donner's reconstructed version of "Superman II"; and assorted cartoons. The only thing they didn't re-release were Superman Underoos. (They didn't, did they? And if so, in an adult medium?)

The flick only made a lousy $16 million in theaters, but it's worth a spin on DVD for its admirably ambiguous plot; it avoids being a straight biopic in favor of telling parallel tales of Reeves and the P.I., both desperate for fame they'd never get; the naughty (true) details of Reeves as kept man for a rich, older, married broad (Diane Lane); and for — seriously, in the name of truth, justice, etc. — Affleck's performance as a bitter, haunted Reeves. After jumping enough sharks to fill the English Channel (see "Gigli," J-Lo, "Payback"), file this one under "I" for I Didn't Think He Had It In Him.

Malnourishing extras explain some about old Hollywood, and its elegant re-creation for the movie, and the real situation with Reeves and the older woman. "Toni Mannix was a broad with a lot of class," recalls now-elderly Jack Larson, aka Jimmy Olsen.

Also, dig the "Deadwood" connections: Reeves biographer Jim Beaver played Ellsworth on the HBO Western, and the detective's spiteful wife, Molly Parker, plays Ellsworth's wife, Alma Garrett.

Mark Rahner: 206-464-8259 or mrahner@seattletimes.com