Hollywood Dreams is meant to be an insider's tale, but it feels like it comes from the cinema of hangers-on.
Hollywood Dreams (2007)
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Reviews Counted:26
Fresh:10
Rotten:16
Average Rating:5.2/10
Consensus: Yet another film about a small town girl trying to make it in the City of Angels, Hollywood Dreams' improvisation and absurdity tests viewers' patience.
Theatrical Release:May 25, 2007 Limited
Box Office: $89,200
Synopsis: Newcomer Tanna Frederick stars alongside Justin Kirk in this story of a Hollywood wannabe. Arriving in LA from Iowa with big dreams of stardom, Margie (Frederick) embarks on a heartbreaking and... Newcomer Tanna Frederick stars alongside Justin Kirk in this story of a Hollywood wannabe. Arriving in LA from Iowa with big dreams of stardom, Margie (Frederick) embarks on a heartbreaking and hilarious journey through the the movie-making industry. [More]
Starring: Tanna Frederick, Justin Kirk, Karen Black, Melissa Chessington Leo
Starring: Tanna Frederick, Justin Kirk, Karen Black, Melissa Chessington Leo, Zack Norman, David Proval
Director: Henry Jaglom
Director: Henry Jaglom
Screenwriter: Henry Jaglom
Producer: Rosemary Marks
Composer: Harriet Schock
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Reviews for Hollywood Dreams
The director lets actors do their thing, to a fault, which makes Frederick's blitzkrieg of a performance often off-putting but occasionally mesmerizing.
Knowing but never jaded, Hollywood Dreams is driven by Ms. Frederick's no-boundaries commitment to her broken character, a performance that's as startling as it is touching.
This take on the classic story of an ingenue trying to make her way in the City of Angels is no pleasure -- not when the ingenue is Margie Chizek (Tanna Frederick).
The 15th film in 35 years written and directed by Henry Jaglom, that love-him-or-hate-him iconoclast of American independent filmmaking, is also one of his warmest.
An indifferent stylist at best, [Jaglom's] films stand or fall depending on the talent and appeal of his leads, and he's found a good one in Frederick.
[Director] Jaglom's scruffy style doesn't carry it through. He puts enough toxic insincerity on screen to singe, though.
Like John Cassavetes and Martin Scorsese, Jaglom knows how to push a scene into realms of such emotional nakedness that the viewer starts to feel like a voyeur looking in on relationships that are none of his or her business.
This might play funnier and less off-putting were if Frederick's Margie was not so disquietingly desperate.
It's the Hollywood dream factory as seen through [director] Jaglom's lens, and it's often out of focus.
The balance of this indie production (Jaglom's 14th) consists of his usual weakly improvised relationship comedy.
This is a quirky little movie that may have some people heading for the exits before the first 15 minutes have passed.
Better pruning and different choices might have helped to shape the film into a more cohesive piece, instead of one so desperate to be funny that it sacrifices its honesty.
Hollywood Dreams is a must for Jaglom fans. For other viewers, it will depend upon how much they can take of Jaglom's improvisational style and Frederick's over-the-top, tear-filled acting.
Too often Jaglom's touch is slightly off, piling up a mountain of absurdist scenes rife with oddball, "human" behavior that tests viewer patience.
An exceedingly modest comedy an annoying motormouth with almost nothing interesting to say. ... If I ever laughed, I don't remember it.
Latest News for Hollywood Dreams
May 24, 2007:
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