Cinema Verdict Review: Queen of the Lot

Queen of the Lot

OPENING: 11/19/2010

STUDIO: Rainbow Films

RUN TIME: 118 min

ACCOMPLICES:
Trailer, Official Site

The Charge
A film about fame, love, and other addictions.

Opening Statement
Independent filmmaker Henry Jaglom’s (A Safe Place) latest feature, Queen of the Lot, continues the story of Maggie Chase (Tanna Frederick), a character first introduced in the writer-director’s 2006 film Hollywood Dreams.

Facts of the Case
Actress Maggie Chase aspires to superstardom, but is mired in forgettable action films. She also has two DUIs, with an ankle-monitoring bracelet keeping her under house arrest. During this court-ordered downtime, she visits the sprawling estate of the Lamberts, a prominent Hollywood family. Although she arrives at the house as the girlfriend of self-centered actor Dov Lambert (Christopher Rydell), she soon finds herself torn between Dov and his brother Aaron (Noah Wyle, ER).

The Evidence
SPOILERS FOLLOW
I’m a relative newcomer to the works of Henry Jaglom, having only seen this film and his 2009 feature Irene in Time, which I didn’t like. I had a somewhat better experience with Queen of the Lot, a languid comedy that takes a mildly satiric view of Hollywood and fame.

The film unfolds over a series of conversations between the film’s many characters. With the Lambert family (two of whom are played by Kathryn Crosby and Mary Crosby, widow and daughter of Bing, respectively), there is no shortage of subplots: Dov has a gambling problem and his father Louis (Jack Heller) is in financial trouble, and an unexpected visit from Dov’s wife Shaelynn (Daisy White) further complicates matters.

Despite an abundance of characters and subplots, Queen of the Lot’s lack of a dominant central plot means that there is little momentum to propel it along; Maggie’s ankle bracelet tethers not only her character but the story as well. This isn’t quite as bad as I’m making it seem, but at nearly 2 hours, the film is too lackadaisical for its own good. There are bits of showbiz send-up here and there (Maggie is obsessed with accumulating Google points and hands out bottled water to paparazzi), but the film is more focused on its characters than it is on satire. That’s okay in Aaron’s case, thanks largely to Wyle’s affable and engaging performance.* Maggie is a different story. There are the DUIs, for one thing, but it’s more her superficial nature (tempered with a little vulnerability and humility) that rankles. As a caricature of fame-hungry actors, she’s somewhat amusing, but the film never gets deep enough beneath the character’s surface.

Still, Queen of the Lot has its moments. Jaglom frequently films in long takes, with the camera panning to follow the various participants in a conversation. The technique is used to amusing effect during a “Dependency Busters” addiction support meeting Maggie participates in. A scene in which a character pitches a Praying with the Stars TV show is also funny, as well as a sequence near the end in which Aaron attempts suicide and Maggie refers to The Apartment when trying to assist him. Filmmaker Peter Bogdonavich also has an amusing cameo as a director who is being pressured into remaking Ernst Lubitsch’s Trouble in Paradise.

* In the third act of the film, it’s revealed that Aaron has a secret second career cleaning up embarrassing messes for his father; for instance, in Queen of the Lot, he’s called in when a gun goes off during a poker game at which Dov is present. I’d be interested in a prequel focusing on Aaron and this aspect of his character.

Closing Statement
While Queen of the Lot is not without its pleasures, it could have used some judicious editing, as well as a script with a little more satiric bite.

The Verdict
6/10

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