Friday, November 19, 2010
PHOTOS |
COMING SOON|
EXAMINER.COM FILM ARTICLES
||HOME
Friday, November 19, 2010
MOVIE REVIEW
Queen Of The Lot
Under Arrest, But She's Not Even Close To The Limit
Noah Wylie as Aaron and Tanna Frederick as Maggie in "Queen Of The Lot".
Rainbow Films
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
FOLLOW
Friday,
November 19, 2010
"Queen Of The Lot" is Henry Jaglom's latest feature film with actress Tanna
Frederick ("Irene In Time") and it's an enjoyable
satire about Hollywood and its treatment of actresses in the business.
Enjoyable enough that is, until it runs out of steam, becoming repetitious and
overacted. The film opened today in Los Angeles.
B-list film star Maggie Chase (Ms. Frederick) is looking for a big break in the
business and has been under house arrest for her second DUI. Bored out of
her skull, things shift when she meets some of Tinseltown's heavy hitters and
her boyfriend's brother Aaron (Noah Wyle). Secrets emerge, and may get in
the way of Maggie's incessant need to be substantially higher in Google's
rankings. (The film is mum on her Twitter prospects, however.)
Ms. Frederick is a winning performer, and in "Queen Of The Lot" this gregarious
and charming actress makes the best of a bad, or at least uninspiring film.
If at all, she is the sole reason to see this sparse comedy. Sometimes she
herself overindulges however, but perhaps that's Mr. Jaglom's point.
Audiences will have seen this kind of satirical movie done before ("The
Player"), and a lot better than it is done here. Still, it's undeniable
that nearly everyone involved feels compelled to make a statement with their
characters' idiosyncrasies.
"Queen Of The Lot" feels like a movie that an uninspired Woody Allen -- who
directed the witty, acerbic "Celebrity", a better satire on fame and Hollywood
-- would have directed 20 years ago. It's difficult to appreciate a film
whose energy is exceedingly low and forced, at that. In the end it's
difficult to care whether or not Maggie finds stardom, love and everlasting
fame, because Mr. Jaglom's film and script aren't fearless in the storytelling
area. By staying familiar and playing things safe, the film doesn't
distinguish itself beyond its own troubled contours.
With: Christopher Rydell, Peter Bogdanovich, Sabrina Jaglom, Kelly DeSarla, Zack
Norman, David Proval, Diane Salinger, Ron Vignone, Mary Crosby, Dennis
Christopher, Kathryn Crosby, Jack Heller, Beege Barkette, Michael Emil, Eliza
Roberts, Simon O. Jaglom, Paul Sand, Daisy White, Wendel Meldrum.
"Queen Of The Lot"
is rated R by the Motion Picture
Association Of America for language and some sexual content. The film's
running time is one hour and 54 minutes. The film opens in New York City
on December 3, in Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, San Francisco and San Diego on
December 10; in Seattle on December 17.
FOLLOW
SUBSCRIBE TO THE POPCORN REEL MOVIE
REVIEWS RSS FEED
