Queen of the Lot (2010)

Queen of the Lot: Directed by Henry Jaglom. With Tanna Frederick, Noah Wyle, Christopher Rydell, David Proval. An electronic ankle bracelet and being under house arrest aren’t about to stop up-and-coming actress Maggie Chase (Tanna Frederick) from the two things she craves the most: real fame and true love. With more “Google points” than her Iowa hometown, but far less than Angelina Jolie, Maggie is desperate to claw her way off the B-list of action/adventure pictures and into major movie stardom. With a team of handlers (Ron Vignone, Diane Salinger, David Proval and Zack Norman) to spin her recent drunk driving arrests into tabloid gold and bad-boy movie star boyfriend Dov Lambert (Christopher Rydell) on her arm, Maggie’s star is on the rise. Things get complicated when a trip home to meet Dov’s legendary family introduces Maggie to the world of Hollywood Royalty (Kathryn Crosby, Mary Crosby, Peter Bogdanovich, Dennis Christopher and Jack Heller) and to her boyfriend’s brother Aaron Lambert (Noah Wyle), the black sheep of the family, a failed writer who can actually see who Maggie really is behind her ingénue facade, but who has dark secrets of his own…

“Other writers and directors would do well to view Henry Jaglomu0026#39;s latest film. Not only would they be schooled into how to make every scene count (a skill mostly lost since the heyday of B films in the u0026#39;30u0026#39;s), but they would get ideas for more films. He provides at least 3 suggestions: an action series about a redhead, a remake of u0026quot;Trouble in Paradise,u0026quot; and a reality-based u0026quot;Praying with the Stars.u0026quot; He even throws in a reference to an iconic moment in one of his earlier films, when his daughter u0026quot;discoversu0026quot; star Tanna Frederick. Even the minor characters here leave you wishing for more about them. Amid a strong veteran cast, Jack Heller steals all his scenes as the family patriarch. Jaglom rivals Woody Allen here with major comedy and a dollop of crime.”