The independent film ?Anniversary Party? is a refreshingly unusual kind of movie. On the surface, it seems it does not have much potential to entertain, but as you find yourself being drawn in by its sincerity, an infinite supply of subtle complexities emerge bringing the movie into a new and distinctive light.
Even though there are some very recognizable faces in this movie, such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Kline and Jennifer Jason Leigh, this is far removed from the movies in which they are usually found.
Joe (Alan Cumming) and Sally (Leigh) are celebrating their sixth anniversary, after a year of being apart, in their artsy Beverly Hills home. As a tribute to their relationship, they host an intimate gathering of some close friends and a couple of not-so-close acquaintances, making for an interesting assembly of varied personalities. Instead of focusing on mind-numbing action, ?Anniversary Party? concentrates on the complex web of relations between characters who have been placed in a vast array of emotion-laden situations.
The draw to this film is that it is so real, with no filler or unnecessary insertions. The acting does not even seem like acting ? it feels as though cameras were planted in some Beverly Hills home while the events were chronicled without the knowledge of the participants. The film sequentially follows the course of a party, from the awkward beginning stage of small talk all the way through to the drunken, rowdy phase when no one cares about anything.
The party is even carrying it to another phase Hollywood usually wouldn?t dare venture into in such a non-confrontational manner.
The way in which alcohol and another chemical are handled in the film is fascinating, with no moral judgments being made, good or bad.
This is not a drug-centered movie, nor does it claim drugs are an acceptable diversion from reality. This is the beauty of it ? the drugs are merely treated as catalysts that inevitably alter social interactions.
These days, it seems box-office-hungry filmmakers only use audience-drawing tactics of extreme action, sex and/or comedy, while the idea of realness is most often thrown by the wayside.
