'The Party' invites wickedly funny drama between dysfunctional guests
“The Party” - ★ ★ ★
Sally Potter's new film “The Party” is 71 minutes long.
That fact alone shouldn't necessarily be a selling point - stories need as long as they need - but when superhero movies and comedies regularly extend well past the two-hour mark, it's hard not to appreciate the restraint.
And it is a rich and layered 71 minutes that Potter spends, in black and white, with a group of highly educated and highly dysfunctional people gathering for an intimate dinner party at Janet (Kristin Scott Thomas) and Bill's (Timothy Spall) London house to celebrate Janet's appointment as the shadow minister for health.
You know going in that things are going to spiral out of control. The first shot is of Janet, distressed and disheveled, pointing a handgun at a mystery person on the other side of the door (and, essentially the viewing audience). Then the film jumps back to the beginning of the evening and you spend the dizzying duration watching the well-heeled crowd unravel.
It's a delightful grouping of actors, including Patricia Clarkson as a cynical and blunt American, April, and Bruno Ganz as her German husband Gottfried. There is Martha (Cherry Jones), a cool and collected women's studies professor, and her pregnant, emotional, and slightly neglected partner Jinny (Emily Mortimer). And then there is Tom (Cillian Murphy), a skittish banker who arrives without his wife and immediately heads to the bathroom to do a few lines of cocaine.
Bill, too, is acting strange. He's almost catatonic as guests arrive, but Janet is too busy to notice between cooking canapés and juggling texts and phone calls from someone she is clearly having an affair with.
Potter follows various characters throughout the evening. Each gets an arc, crisis and moment of release - something you can't say of many movies.
While wickedly funny and deft, this crowd is not one you'd pick for a long, relaxing evening. But, it is a fun experiment to be a fly on the wall for this bizarre night - a little dinner theater canapé that'll make you laugh and think and be grateful (let's hope) that your friends aren't this kooky. By the end, you're ready to call it a night, too.
<b>Starring:</b> Patricia Clarkson, Timothy Spall, Kristin Scott Thomas, Cillian Murphy, Cherry Jones, Bruno Ganz
<b>Directed by:</b> Sally Potter
<b>Other:</b> A Roadside Attractions release. Rated R for language and drug use. 71 minutes