STAR TURN SAVES HEAVY COMEDY

INNER parties are usually quite enjoyable in real life. But in the movies they tend to not go very well, as demonstrated by the disastrous gatherings featured in the recent Dinner

With Beatriz and The Party.

Nothing quite as dramatic occurs at the upscale soiree depicted in the new comedy directed by Amanda Sthers

( You’ll Miss Me), which is a shame since the laboured Madame fails to rise to the level of sophisticated social satire to which it aspires.

The film’s stars are Toni Collette and Harvey Keitel, but the proceedings are stolen from under their noses by supporting players Michael Smiley and, particularly, Rossy de Palma.

Set in Paris, wealthy married couple Bob (Keitel) and the younger Anne (Collette) have recently moved to a beautiful new manor house.

Unfortunately, the couple is not quite as wealthy as they appear, as Bob has fallen on hard times, which he’s keeping from

Dhis glamorous second wife.

Anne’s plan to host a lavish dinner party for their upscale friends becomes upended by the unexpected arrival of Bob’s son Steven (Tom Hughes), a novelist suffering from writer’s block.

Aghast that the table will now be unluckily seating 13 people, Anne orders their longtime maid Maria (De Palma) to don a fancy, borrowed dress and pretend to be a Spanish noblewoman.

The subterfuge works better than expected, with Maria, overcoming her initial shyness, turning into the life of the party.

She particularly wows the man sitting next to her, David (Smiley), a British art dealer who finds her natural warmth and bubbliness intoxicating.

The Cinderella-like premise proves engaging at first, but director/co-screenwriter Sthers fails to develop it in sufficiently amusing or provocative fashion.

Much as her character enlivens the dinner party, De Palma infuses the film with whatever life it has. The statuesque actress has such an arresting presence that it’s no wonder Spanish director Pedro Almodovar has made her his muse. – Hollywood Reporter

Madame.