Street Date: May 6

Official Synopsis:
Set in the city of angels, 'Hollywood Dreams' spins the tale of a young girl fresh off the bus from Iowa (the astonishing Tanna Frederick), who falls in love with a sexy and promising young actor (Justin Kirk) which threatens to complicate her own obsessive goal of becoming a famous actress. Featuring wonderful performances by David Proval, Karen Black, Zack Norman, Melissa Leo, Keaton Simons and Sabrina Jaglom, the film perfectly captures the delightful and desperate lives of those chasing dreams in Hollywood; one day they are shuffling down a boardwalk with too many suitcases, and the next they are lounging in contemporary hillside homes with a view of the city. Though neither state is permanent, the more desirable one fuels the dream. The story's extraordinary execution portrays Hollywood as the fantasic and insane place that it is. Only director Henry Jaglom could capture this classic story with such a deliberate and intense style that it feels entirely new. - Lane Kneedler, American Film Institute
  
Our Take:
Hollywood Dreams is an actors showcase with some nice commentary on Hollywood mixed in as well.  The film portrays Hollywood as a dark world of deception and selfishness.  Even the nicest characters in the film have a dark side that comes out at some point.  This allows the actors in the film to travel the emotional spectrum end to end.  The actors’ comfort levels are clearly high as they all tap into such deep emotions, which is certainly a trademark of many Henry Jaglom films.

While the entire cast of Hollywood Dreams does an excellent job, the film is really a coming out party for Tanna Frederick.  Frederick plays the lead character and puts on a showcase of emotion throughout the entire picture.  Whether she is crying on cue or playing a scene light and airy, Frederick comes across as nothing but natural.  Although she comes across as natural, the character herself is anything but.  This is the biggest flaw of the film as a film; the narrative and everything else is simply swallowed up by Frederick when she is on screen.  There’s a plot in there somewhere and the overall absurdity that is Hollywood is captured, but all of that tends to blur while Frederick’s performance is clear as day.

The extra features on the disc are as follows:

* Commentary by director Henry Jaglom and star Tanna Frederick.

* Making of Hollywood Dreams (13 minutes) – Made up of interviews with cast and crew that begins by talking about what it is like to make a Jaglom film, but quickly becomes a Frederick love-fest.

* Trailer.

Hollywood Dreams will probably become known as Tanna Frederick’s calling card and the film does not seem like it was supposed to be anything more than that.  For film fans that enjoy a good performance while letting the actual film take a back seat, Hollywood Dreams is for you.  I cannot wait to see what Frederick will do in a film where she is fenced in a little more and asked to play it smaller.  Hollywood Dreams may mark the beginning of the career of the next big thing.

RECOMMENDED!

Overall Picture:
Movie: B
DVD:  C+

- Matthew Orlando
Staff Writer