Lead a Liability

The film's low budget is evident, but I'm a fan of Jaglom's Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? and was expecting less than ideal camera focus, set lighting, and dubbing (pretty bad in places). Jaglom's rewards are generally found in the writing and cast performances. However, while I hesitate to pick on "introduced" actors who have obviously scored a big break (in this case, a film lead), I found Tanna Frederick's performance pretty awful. I can imagine how this film could have been a true low budget, independent gem had someone more appealing played the part (e.g., Parker Posey). But other cast members are terrific, including the legendary and very funny Karen Black, who I've adored for years for her unique and brilliant performances, and also for her support and participation with independent film, obviously a passion of hers amongst film-making friends. Melissa Leo is also terrific. Both of my personal laugh-out-loud scenes showcased Karen.

PS: Tanna's "crying" scenes rank as some of the worst captured on film. Toward the end, when she mentions "real tears" (really, where?) and "gonna win an Oscar," I was frankly rolling my eyes in disbelief.