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Hollywood Dreams
Metascore
52 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 13 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 13
  3. Negative: 3 out of 13
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  1. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    75
    Frederick is the key to the movie and she's definitely an impressive new talent, someone who can really hold the screen and who delivers something striking or memorable in every scene.
  2. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    70
    The movie buzzes with the quirky rhythms of Jaglom's patented improvisational shooting style, and those of Frederick herself, whose go-for-broke zaniness recalls that of a former Jaglom ingenue, Karen Black.
  3. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    67
    Jaglom's scruffy style doesn't carry it through. He puts enough toxic insincerity on screen to singe, though.
  4. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    63
    A must for Jaglom fans. For other viewers, it will depend upon how much they can take of Jaglom's improvisational style and Frederick's over-the-top, tear-filled acting.
  5. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    63
    Once again brushing aside critical drubbings and public indifference, determined independent auteur Henry Jaglom follows up the abysmal "Let's Go Shopping" with something far better: an old-school Hollywood cautionary tale about -- what else? -- Hollywood.
  6. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Jeannette Catsoulis
    60
    Knowing but never jaded, Hollywood Dreams is driven by Ms. Frederick's no-boundaries commitment to her broken character, a performance that's as startling as it is touching. In Mr. Jaglom's maverick hands, the appeal of illusion over reality is both fatal and irresistible.
  7. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Tasha Robinson
    58
    It's unclear whether Frederick's an awful actress or a tremendous one pretending to be awful, but either way, it's hard to pity her nasal, pushy, babyish Iowa girl.
  8. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    50
    Does a number of sly things.
  9. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Lael Loewenstein
    50
    It's a very mixed bag. When it's good, Hollywood Dreams is corrosively funny and unexpectedly poignant. And when it's bad, it's over-the-top bad.
  10. Variety
    Reviewed by: Peter Debruge
    50
    Though it boasts slightly more narrative structure than his other work, Jaglom's script still serves as a catalyst for wild improvisation, suggesting the inside-jokey result was more fun to make than to watch.
  11. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    38
    It's not unusual for a Henry Jaglom film to fall into a black hole of narcissism, but he has outdone himself with his latest, a satire on Hollywood's unshakable self-absorption.
  12. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    38
    Meant to be an insider's tale, but it feels like it comes from the cinema of hangers-on.
  13. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    30
    Jaglom's 14th consists of his usual weakly improvised relationship comedy.
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User Reviews

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User Score
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No user score yet- Awaiting 2 more ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. ShandS.
    10
    Simply a masterpiece of painful and hysterically funny truth revealing the dark underbelly of Hollywood skewered even more successfully than in The Player. A great female performance by its brilliant new star Tanna Frederick, who takes chances and goes places of unimaginable truth. A Brilliant, tragic comedy-drama.… Full Review »
  2. RachelC.
    10
    A brilliant, incisive and all-too-true look at the underside if the Cannes Film Festival and the ship of fools who gather there yearly to invent themselves and one another, Anyone who has been there will recognize the absolute truth of the characters played by these brilliant actors,writers, directors and wannabes.… Full Review »