WhatzUp

The Anniversary Party
by Derek Neff

Surely there must be people who have these kinds of parties, who live in these kinds of houses, who have these kinds of friends, but watching The Anniversary Party was, for me at least, as much anthropology lesson as film entertainment. Sally and Joe Therrian (Alan Cumming and Jennifer Jason Leigh) are celebrating their sixth anniversary at their impeccably designed and spotless multi-million dollar Hollywood home. On the single night during which the movie takes place, a few things become gradually clear: the two have recently gotten back together after a prolonged split, and Joe at least has not, in the past, been faithful. Joe is a successful novelist who has just gotten the green light to direct the film adaptation of one of his own books, and Sally is a no-longer-young actress whose career has taken an inexplicable dive into semi-obscurity. They invite a houseful of culturally elite guests to their party, with whom there are a plethora of emotional undercurrents. There are the annoying guests next door (played by Denis O’Hare and Mina Badie) who have been threatening to sue them about the barking of their dog Otis; a photographer (Jennifer Beals) who may or may not be in love with Joe; a film director whose current project is going badly (John C. Reilly), and his emotional wreck of a wife (Jane Adams); the Therrian’s business manager, who turns out to be extremely unpleasant to play charades with (John Benjamin Hickey); a smart neo-hippy actress who is to star in Joe’s upcoming movie (Gwyneth Paltrow); a famous actor and his wife, the most emotionally stable couple in the group (played by real-life spouses Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates); and at least a dozen more.

The party turns from an intense game of charades, to a prolonged scene in which everyone delivers their own stylized toast to the guests of honor, to a late-night Ecstasy-induced poolside rave, to a catastrophic series of conversations and events that test the very foundations of the Therrian’s marriage.

It is a testament to the combined writing and directing prowess of co-stars Cumming and Leigh that we quickly get to know every guest at the party, and effortlessly come to care about each person’s situation. The dialogue in The Anniversary Party is at its worst merely witty, at its best poignant and incisive, but it is never trite. There are some minor nits— the movie is probably too top-heavy with dramatic undercurrents, all of which seem custom-made to give all the actors something to sink their teeth into— but they are overshadowed by the movie’s strengths, of which there are many. The Anniversary Party is a substantial, entertaining, funny, and ultimately powerful anatomy of a marriage that I highly recommend.