"Ovation"* 1\2 (out of ****)
There was a time indie filmmaker Henry Jaglom made good movies. Those days are long gone and I fear will never return. "Ovation!" (2015), Mr. Jaglom's 20th feature length movie (he did direct a segment in the National Lampoon's comedy "Movie Madness" (1982) so "Ovation" could be his 20 1/2 movie) is another case in point.
Mr. Jaglom likes to direct movies about actors, showcasing the bond among them by presenting them as a family. A good example is "Last Summer in the Hamptons" (1996). However, the past decade plus has found Mr. Jaglom at a career low point. This has been due to his relationship with actress Tanna Frederick.
Love is strange. It can blind us from the truth. People often don't find fault in those they love. Men might place women on a pedestal. They may affectionately gaze at the woman they love and drown themselves in a woman's beauty. The woman that is the object of this affection may find it flattering. It may even by good for the relationship. But, it is bad for a movie.
Henry Jaglom found a muse in Tanna Frederick. The two have collaborated on seven movies, not counting theatrical work. By the end of their fourth movie together, Mr. Jaglom divorced his wife, Victoria Foyt, and married Ms. Frederick. In Ms. Frederick it is clear Mr. Jaglom sees a star. A screen beauty. A woman of versatile talent. As a husband, I suppose that is good Mr. Jaglom feels that way about his wife. As a director, his feelings have blinded him.
Every movie Mr. Jaglom has directed Ms. Frederick in has been a self-indulgent vanity project. Watching "Ovation" two things come to mind as the movie's objective. One, show Ms. Frederick as a beautiful, desirable woman and two, make a movie that is supposed to be about the love of theatre.
Pay attention to the way characters react to Ms. Frederick's character, Maggie Chase. Everyone is amazed by her acting and men are captivated by her. Read reviews by the movie critic hacks (friends of Mr. Jaglom, whom I won't mention by name) that lavish praise at Ms. Frederick, comparing her to the great actresses of the past; Greta Garbo and Katherine Hepburn. This serves as the true purpose of "Ovation". Shine a light on Ms. Frederick. I, for one, have had enough. How a filmmaker can sacrifice his art all because of a woman is at the very least disappointing. I used to enjoy watching Henry Jaglom movies but it is very clear those days are gone. At lease we have the memory of earlier titles like "Sitting Ducks" (1980), "Someone to Love" (1987) and "Festival in Cannes" (2002).
Ms. Frederick once again plays a character named Maggie Chase. This may be an extension of the character she played in "Hollywood Dreams" (2007, her first film with Mr. Jaglom) and "Queen of the Lot" (2011). This time Maggie is a theatre actress. In the prior movies she wanted to be a movie star. She is appearing at a small local theatre in a production of "The Rainmakers". Unless an investor is brought in, the play will be closing at the end of the weekend, putting everyone out of work.
One need not fear however, Maggie's marvelous acting ability and dizzying beauty will save the day (like Mighty Mouse) as famous actor Stewart Henry (James Denton) has seen the play and is stunned by Maggie's performance. He even wants her to star in a new television series being developed. And, even though he is engaged, he is slowly falling in love with Maggie. And even though she is involved in a relationship, she may be falling for Stewart.
The questions become will Maggie leave the theatre? Will Maggie and Stewart become a couple? Will an investor come forward and save the play?
In the middle of this Mr. Jaglom throws in a sub-plot involving another actress in an abusive relationship with a jealous lover and a stage hand that may have killed the man (Mr. Jaglom's children are cast in these roles). Plus an actress / fortune teller is backstage giving everyone a reading. Can her tarot cards really see the future?
"Ovation" is poorly written with dialogue that never sound convincing. According to the credits the script was written by Mr. Jaglom and Ron Vignone. But, like all of Mr. Jaglom's movies there is an improvised quality with actors pretending to be naturalistic. It never quite comes off, especially in the hands of some of these actors. James Denton comes out okay. I don't know how Mr. Jaglom manages to get professional actors like Mr. Denton in his movies but you can always tell the difference between a professional actor and an amateur.
In the name of fairness I must say Ms. Frederick has improved greatly as an actress. She has learned to tone it down. Her earlier performances were filled with a lot of "energy". Ms. Frederick has a bubbly personality. She lacks subtly. In "Just 45 Minutes From Broadway" (2012) and this movie she has learned to control herself and can play emotions without screaming and wild exaggerated hand gestures as she was previously prone to do. She has her missteps here, a scene between her and Stewart at a piano shows Ms. Frederick give way to her annoying and needy tendencies that overwhelm her performances.
The subplots in the movie make no sense and don't add anything to the movie. They could have easily been written out of the movie and audiences would be left with the same disappointing movie. The abusive relationship and the fortune teller don't mesh with the rest of the movie and the overall theme of Ms. Frederick's beauty.
As for "Ovation's" pretend second objective of making a movie about the theatre, the movie never fully demonstrates why the actors love the theatre. We never see the actors on stage. Nothing visually is shown to communicate the concept of the power of theatre and the relationship between the actor and the audience.
To anyone that thinks I am being too harsh on "Ovation", Henry Jaglom or Tanna Frederick, I have only this to say. I am not alone in my criticism. In fact I, along with other movie critics, are among the truth tellers. We have called out Mr. Jaglom and seen through his intentions. In his review of "Irene in Time" (2009) Roger Ebert actually calls out one of the hack movie critics I mentioned earlier by name. Elizabeth Weitzman (who sadly no longer writes for the "NY Daily News") wrote in her review of "Queen of the Lot", "if Henry Jaglom is determined to push muse Tanna Frederick on us, he really ought to give her more than the self-congratulatory vanity projects they keep churning out." She also wrote Ms. Frederick was "overplaying" her role. Scott Foundas in "Variety" described one of Ms. Frederick's performances a "cartoonishly". Robert Abele in the "Los Angeles Times" described one of Mr. Jaglom's movies as "an investment in theatrical self-indulgence with diminishing results." We all can't be wrong.
"Ovation" is a misguided, poorly conceived, amateurishly acted movie with equally bad dialogue. It is perhaps the worse Henry Jaglom movie I have seen. Mr. Jaglom needs a new muse. No one is giving this movie an ovation.
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