Jaglom’s Queen of the Lot

Hollywood is the world’s capitol of insecurity. It is the perfect place for Maggie Chase. Do not bother talking to her about the craft of acting. She is too busy tracking her google standing. Yet, there is an outside chance she might reluctantly examine her life choices while serving a DUI house arrest in Henry Jaglom’s Queen of the Lot (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

More-or-less a sequel to Jaglom’s Hollywood Dreams, Chase (formerly Chizek) has sort-of-kind-of made it. A poor man’s Cynthia Rothrock, she is the star of the popular down-market Red Wrecker action series. However, Chase’s low self-esteem and alcohol are a bad mix. While serving her ankle-braceleted sentence in the home of her manager-partners Kaz and Caesar, Chase’s PR team makes her a tabloid sensation. She even has entrée into the glamour of old school Hollywood through her boyfriend Dov Lambert, a scion of a legendary mini-mogul. Yet, her inconvenient attraction to Dov’s younger brother Aaron, a writer and self-described failure, complicates Chase’s single-minded pursuit of her shallow goals.

As required, Tanna Frederick is convincingly needy and superficial as Chase. At times she almost rivals Sidney Falco from The Sweet Smell of Success in her cravenness, but Aaron Lambert still sees something in her worth pursuing. Indeed, ER’s Noah Wyle is the big news of Lot, bringing surprising depth and edginess to the younger brother. His scenes with Frederick bristle with uncomfortable honesty.

Once again, Jaglom assembles an intriguing supporting cast, including Zack Norman (best known as Danny DeVito’s crocodile admiring cousin in Romancing the Stone) as Kaz. Perhaps most appropriately, Peter Bogdanovich plays Pedja Sapir, a well-regarded director who has not made a film in years. (Though perfectly fine in the role, wouldn’t everyone prefer to see him making a new film of his own?)

Often sharply amusing, Lot has little of the sappiness of Irene in Time, Jaglom and Frederick’s last collaboration. Its old-fashioned jazzy soundtrack (much in the tradition of Woody Allen films) is also a considerable improvement. Presumably another of Jaglom’s scripted-and-improvised hybrids, Lot is somewhat uneven. Still, the humor is smart and consistent, while Wyle and Frederick exhibit legitimate on-screen chemistry. A considerably above average skewering of Hollywood for the hardcore indie scene, Lot opens this Friday (12/3) in New York at the Quad Cinema.

Jaglom’s Irene in Time

Henry Jaglom was an independent filmmaker before indie was cool. He holds the distinction of having directed Orson Welles twice, including the cinema legend’s final film appearance. Still, Jaglom’s films are notoriously talky, limiting his cult appeal as a maverick filmmaker. True to form, Jaglom’s latest film largely consists of emotionally revealing conversations between women on how their relationships with their fathers affected their relationships with men. Yet, even though the title character’s father was a loving, supportive figure, she seems incapable of having a healthy relationship in Jaglom’s Irene in Time (trailer here), which opens in New York this Wednesday.

Irene Jensen’s father was a fun guy. As the film opens, his gambling cronies regale her with colorful anecdotes about him. These scenes are talky in a good way, featuring Zack Norman (recognizable as Danny Devito’s brother Ira in Romancing the Stone) as Larry, a natural born raconteur who would bet against the sun coming up if you gave him the right odds. Regrettably, Jensen soon leaves their company for the first of many uncomfortable episodes of failed romance.

Throughout the course of the film, we will see Jensen crash and burn in one relationship after another, despite the glaringly obvious warning signs. Admittedly, that happens in real life too, but it is still frustrating to watch. When not talking to her friends about her father and her love life, Jensen records tracks for her forthcoming CD. As Jensen, Tanna Frederick has a reasonably pleasing voice. Unfortunately, due to the tinny synthesizers and Helen Reddy-style lyrics, these musical interludes often border on the cheesy.

However, there is one strong musical moment that comes from cabaret star Andrea Marcovicci. Playing jazz singer Helen Dean, a mysterious friend of Jensen’s father, she makes quite an impression singing “Forever in Time We’ll Be,” and has some fine dramatic moments as well. Indeed, there are several excellent supporting performances in Time, including a radiant looking Victoria Tennant as Jensen’s mother, one of the film’s few emotionally mature characters.

Time’s performances are certainly heartfelt and its dialogue is often quite pointed. However, the film cries out for a firmer editorial hand. While some scenes are undeniably effective screen drama, others meander into dead ends. Also problematic are a big revelation that comes as no great surprise and a real head-scratcher of a conclusion—not that the storyline really matters anyway. After all, Jaglom films are all about the conversations rather than the plot.

Although Time is sure to delight Jaglom’s established admirers, it is unlikely to expand his audience. At least it showcases the considerable talents of Marcovicci and Tennant in meaningful supporting roles. It opens this Wednesday (9/23) at the Quad.