In a season of trumpet-eared CGI creations, virtual movie stars and live-action cartoons (by the way, what happened to "Pearl Harbor"?), Hollywood has had almost nothing to offer the passionate minority of moviegoers who'd actually like to see a film made for -- egad! -- adults. So if you've forgotten what it's like to sit in a theater without your feet sticking to the floor, if you've actually grown accustomed to your chair being kicked during a movie's best scenes, then that's reason enough to make a pilgrimage down to the Dole Cannery for "The Anniversary Party," Jennifer Jason Leigh's and Alan Cumming's smart skewering of contemporary tinseltown excess. Cause célèbre
By Scott Vogel
svogel@starbulletin.comAn ensemble film of exceptional quality despite being shot on digital video, the script (also by Leigh and Cumming) deposits a group of L.A. friends -- most of whom are either writers, directors or actors -- into the boiling cauldron that is the sixth anniversary party thrown for novelist Joe Therrian (Cummings) and actress Sally Nash (Leigh).
Given the egomania and/or unbridled narcissism of various attendees, it isn't long before guests are at each others' throats over such showbiz preoccupations as daily rushes ("wonderful and lean and visual"), marital discord ( "Don't split up again," a little boy begs Joe and Sally upon arriving at their home), and the quest for eternal thinness ("You look so well, Clair. A wraith!"). But what keeps "Anniversary" from descending into a tired bitchfest is the dead-on satire of Hollywood overindulgence, not to mention the relaxed confidence everyone from Parker Posey to Gwyneth Paltrow to Kevin Kline bring to the proceedings.
Shot in 19 days without dressing rooms or trailers, each of the actors responsible for their own hair and make-up, the film possesses a collegial disposition that encourages the dialogue to take on greater dimensions. For example, when a character says of Sally's latest performance, "You were so f---ing funny in the kitchen scene!," your first response is to laugh at the hyperbole. But then comes Leigh's reaction -- it's like she's just swallowed a drug -- and suddenly the pathos of a simple compliment being transformed into manna from heaven is almost overwhelming.
All of the film's performances are both utterly true and multi-layered. Paltrow gives a sly turn as Skye Davidson, a minimally talented starlet whose anniversary gift to Joe and Sally is a cache of Ecstasy tablets, Jane Adams is a hilariously nervous first-time mom ("Please don't tell Sophia I'm not breastfeeding!") and Jennifer Beals is winning as Joe's oldest friend, a photographer whose gift to the couple is a phone bill showing all the calls Joe placed to her when he and Sally were on the outs.
It's a clever commentary on the demimonde of contemporary Hollywood, which manages to recycle almost everything into entertainment these days, though usually only when the word is defined loosely. Happily, "The Anniversary Party" depends on nothing elaborate -- not bombing raids, not pixels, not a single grunt at Industrial Light and Magic -- to produce its enchantment.
"The Anniversary Party "
Rated R.
Signature Dole Cannery
3 stars
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