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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Thursday, 25 July 2013 21:40

You feel like you’re peering into the lives of people who are much better looking than you but still don’t have it together.

 

 

There are some directors who are talked about more often than their work is seen, and Henry Jaglom is one of them. He was born in England, raised in New York, and acted and directed in the theater (training with Lee Strasberg at the Actor’s Studio) before settling in Hollywood, where he appeared in a number of TV shows and films. He was there at the birth of New American Cinema, working on the editing of Easy Rider, and directed his first film in 1971: A Safe Place, starring Tuesday Weld. Jaglom is still at it today, with one film (The M Word) in post-production, and another (Ovation) in pre-production.

Jaglom is famous for allowing his actors largely to improvise scenes, following basic indications provided by him, but also, if you can believe the 1997 documentary Who Is Henry Jaglom?, for berating actresses who are unable to guess what he wants (female humiliation is a recurring theme in his films). His movies have a polarizing effect on people—I doubt that you will find anyone with a neutral opinion about his work—and are best known among the art-house and festival crowd. Today, thanks to DVDs and instant view, you can watch Jaglom’s films in the comfort of your home and judge for yourself—and even if his particular style turns out to not be exactly your cup of tea, I doubt that you’ll feel that you’ve wasted your time by watching a few.

The second volume of The Henry Jaglom Collection includes three comedies, Sitting Ducks (1980), Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? (1983) and New Year’s Day (1989). All three are shot at least partially in New York City, and the time capsule aspect alone is reason enough to give them a look. Jaglom’s New York is that lived by ordinary people in small apartments on limited but not entirely inadequate budgets, and who have an opinion about everything. It’s neither the upscale world of Whit Stillman’s films, nor the urban hell of, say, Fort Apache, The Bronx. Another common theme is Jaglom’s skillful use of retro music, a characteristic he shares with his more noted contemporary Woody Allen. The presence of Michael Emil, Jaglom’s brother, is third constant in these films—almost all his roles came in Jaglom’s films, and while he’s pretty bad in Sitting Ducks, he does get better in the later films.

Sitting Ducks is a road movie about two low-level Mafiosi (Zack Norman and Michael Emil) who rob their bosses and take off in a limo for Miami, where they plan to catch a flight to Costa Rica. Being New Yorkers, they spend most of their time bickering, and although I didn’t find their routines particularly funny, the characters ring true—in fact, you would probably have no problem finding two similar characters in any high-rise office building in the city today. They pick up three passengers along the way: a would-be singer-songwriter (Richard Romanus) whose good looks outstrip his talents, a ditzy waitress with a tendency to over-share (Irene Forrest), and a sexy woman who’s more than available (Patrice Townsend). I wouldn’t say that hilarity ensues—in fact, I enjoyed the location shooting more than most of the plot points or acting—but it’s an interesting film because its relaxed sense of time is radically different from the typical comedy today.

The main reason to watch Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? is the presence of Karen Black in the central role of Zee, a woman who’s not dealing at all well with the abrupt departure of her husband. Before you know it, she’s invited neurotic businessman Eli (Emil) to come home with her, and it’s a perfect match: She’s all heart, he’s all head, so they complete each other in the best tradition of Hollywood romantic comedies. It’s also a triumph for neurotic balding guys everywhere—Jaglom might as well have added a crawl with the message “Don’t worry guys, there’s a Karen Black out there for you, too.” A special unadvertised benefit is the appearance of Orson Welles. He and Jaglom were pals, as everyone now knows thanks to the recent publication of My Lunches with Orson: Conversations between Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles.

Jaglom casts himself in a central role in New Year’s Day as Drew, a gentleman who finds himself in a classic New York situation. He gets off the red-eye from L.A. and shows up at his New York City apartment, only to find that it’s still occupied. Fortunately, the occupants are three attractive young ladies—one is a voice actor with a neurotic mother, one works in public relations for an art gallery, and the third is obsessed with having a baby within a year’s time—and the mix-up is all due to a little misunderstanding about whether their lease, which runs “through the first” includes the first. The hotels are full because it’s New Year’s Day, so there you are—they’re stuck with each other, and they mostly hang out and talk (they are New Yorkers, after all) in a series of set pieces that, at their best, are so insightful and natural, you feel like you’re peering into the lives of people who are much better looking than you but still don’t have it together. David Duchovny and Milos Forman play minor roles, and the whole film has the feel of a play by a playwright whose inspiration came and went.

The box set includes a generous package of extras, including commentaries on two of the films, Sitting Ducks (Jaglom, Emil, and Norman) and New Year’s Day (Jaglom, Duchovny, and Maggie Wheeler). The Sitting Ducks disc also includes television interviews with Jaglom and Townsend, a Q&A featurette, and a short by Jaglom, My Brother’s Sex Life. | Sarah Boslaugh