Hollywood Dreams

Indie auteur Henry Jaglom has specialized in modestly produced, self-indulgent films with loose narratives, and Hollywood Dreams slides right into his familiar groove. Needy, neurotic wannabe actress Margie Chizek (Tanna Frederick) becomes the protégé of two gay producers (Zack Norman and David Proval) while secretly romancing a promising young actor (Justin Kirk), who’s hiding his heterosexuality to enhance his career prospects. Casual direction, shaky camerawork and imprecise editing—all Jaglom trademarks—tend to undermine this film and diminish the impact of the few improvisational sequences that provoke laughter.

Shelf Talk: Since his 1980 comedy Sitting Ducks, Jaglom has enjoyed just enough success to make his in-joke movies commercially viable—as long as they are produced on the cheap. But he has never been more than a cult figure, a low-rent Woody Allen or John Cassavetes, and his insular dramedies appeal to a narrow, but nonetheless dedicated niche. The Tinseltown backdrop and cameo appearances by Karen Black, Sally Kirkland, Seymour Cassel and Eric Roberts should make Hollywood Dreams a little bit more appealing than some of Jaglom’s other works.