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This follow-up to "The Second Assistant," obviously planned as a pair, continues the adventures of the somewhat naive Lizzie Miller in Hollywood. Having ended the first volume promoted to First Assistant, she faces a series of disasters that see her dispatched to Thailand as the chaperone of a wild, 19 year-old mega-star named Emerald; fired from her job due to blackmail by (it turns out) the hideous and unscrupulous new Second Assistant Amber; and ultimately makes her comeback, wins an Oscar, is offered a prestigious new job, and regains her boyfriend Luke. It's all wrapped up nicely, mostly.
There are a few strands of ribbon flapping loosely around the package. A plot point about the Danish mafia, itself pretty improbable, is dropped in and abandoned; I kept waiting for the bad guys to return but they never did. On Oscar night Lizzie walks away with her statuette, but in fact winners are given a stand-in that's snatched away backstage; they get the real one a few weeks later. It's never quite completely clear just how Amber pulled off her plot against Lizzie, nor why a talent agency would keep a file of embarrassing photos of their clients rather than destroying them -- or if they had to keep them, why they weren't transferred to the lawyers.
Altogether "The First Assistant" has the slightly strained feel that burdens so many Hollywood sequels, which have to be just a tad (or more) outrageous than the original. Lizzie's voice didn't always seem right, either, and she seems to have learned very little from her experiences as a second assistant.
Still, it's fun, and as some other reviews here have observed, Emerald's a very appealing character in her sluttiness, arrogance, and self-centeredness. Lizzie could have done fine by just staying as her assistant! But she's destined for bigger and better things, it seems. We may wish her luck and say our good-byes.
There are a few strands of ribbon flapping loosely around the package. A plot point about the Danish mafia, itself pretty improbable, is dropped in and abandoned; I kept waiting for the bad guys to return but they never did. On Oscar night Lizzie walks away with her statuette, but in fact winners are given a stand-in that's snatched away backstage; they get the real one a few weeks later. It's never quite completely clear just how Amber pulled off her plot against Lizzie, nor why a talent agency would keep a file of embarrassing photos of their clients rather than destroying them -- or if they had to keep them, why they weren't transferred to the lawyers.
Altogether "The First Assistant" has the slightly strained feel that burdens so many Hollywood sequels, which have to be just a tad (or more) outrageous than the original. Lizzie's voice didn't always seem right, either, and she seems to have learned very little from her experiences as a second assistant.
Still, it's fun, and as some other reviews here have observed, Emerald's a very appealing character in her sluttiness, arrogance, and self-centeredness. Lizzie could have done fine by just staying as her assistant! But she's destined for bigger and better things, it seems. We may wish her luck and say our good-byes.
