An exploration of the 1959 death of TV's Superman, George Reeves (Ben Affleck), the film oozes period authenticity and features several strong performances, notably from Diane Lane who's vibrant and vicious as Reeves' older, married mistress.

Even some of the supporting actors are powerful in the briefest of roles, including Joe Spano as MGM's ruthless publicist and Lois Smith as Reeves' grieving mother.

But there's something sadly inert about the feature debut from longtime television director Allen Coulter ("Sex and the City," "The Sopranos"), written by Paul Bernbaum. There's a lethargy to the pacing that makes it feel as if it will never end after only an hour. And there's a "who cares?" factor about a number of subplots, which should never happen in a film that purports itself to be a taut thriller.

Typically wiry and intense, Adrien Brody stars as Louis Simo, a private detective who, in true noir fashion, is on the brink of being washed up when news hits that Reeves was found dead in his Hollywood Hills home. Los Angeles police close the case -- looks like the guy shot himself in his bedroom, let's move on -- but Reeves' mother, Helen Bessolo, hires Simo to dig deeper.

Lane is just dazzling as a woman who's smart enough to know that she's past her prime, but too insecure to keep herself from falling for this younger man who might just be taking advantage of her extraordinary generosity. She looks ravishing (as always) and wears the clothes beautifully, but she also shows moving flashes of vulnerability as her character ages toward the end.

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