DINNER THEATER
Quiet soiree bursts into heavy drama
IN writerdirector Sally Potter’s “The Party,” what’s served is ice-cold loathing from the reigning kings of spite: affluent liberals. The black-and-white British film starts off unremarkably. Seven obnoxious, highfalutin friends come together to celebrate Janet’s (Kristin Scott Thomas) big promotion at the government’s Ministry of Health. The partygoers include a loony German life coach and healer, a Latin-poet-quoting university professor, a lesbian couple pregnant with triplets and a businessman they all mock for being a soulless moneymaker. Actress Patricia Clarkson is there, too, and her character’s job seems to be to bitterly comment from the corner.
At first, the group’s cruel quips and party pabulum come across like that of an average stage play, rather than a dark-comedy film. The early proceedings are kept mellow by a soundtrack of piano elevator music. But the pretentious calm soon turns into a satirical storm when Janet’s husband, Bill (Timothy Spall), announces he has a terminal illness.
That’s when the twits hit the fan, and the careful veneer of status and intellect is violently torn off. Affairs are unearthed, windows shatter and fistfights break out in the sitting room.
The ensemble cast is an impressive blend of British and American stage and screen favorites — Cherry Jones, Emily Mortimer, Clarkson and Spall. But the imposing talents all manage to scale down their usual punchy presences to fit the modest film. And Scott Thomas stands out as a harried politician whose crumbling home life is at odds with her big national ambitions.
Running time: 71 minutes. Rated R (language, drug use). Now playing.