The Party

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I was hoping and expecting something that was a little bit like Mike Leigh's masterpiece Abigail's party. Believe me, Abigail's party is 90 out of 100 but this is 0 out of 100. My other half said she would be generous and give it 1 out of 10 because she liked the fireplace in the house. Interestingly it has been given rave reviews by most critics including Bradshaw in the Guardian and Kermode in the Observer. Once again their credibility must be shot by over praising this ghastly and boring fiasco. Rarely has the phrase "The Emperor's New Clothes" seemed more appropriate. Tara Brady in the Irish Times is one of the few, along with the Sunday Times and a site called Little White Lies, among professional critics who got it totally right by saying "this is still just a bad , bad play". If you look more closely it's possible to see that many ordinary punters have slammed it as well. As of today jan 7th, 2018 it's popularity in IMDb seems to be nose diving quite justifiably as people realise that the critics have got it wrong and this movie in an atrocious turkey and an embarrassment to the talented cast

I had decent expectations for this from the second I saw it's trailer, I've just caught it on Netflix and it's fair to say I'm disappointed. A jumble of weird political statements and a masterclass in overacting the only thing going for this film is the fact it's a little over an hour in run time. With shallow characters who are easy to hate and are mostly uninteresting with the exception of Murphy's Tom this film is sadly not what it could've been. The setting is great as is the cinematography and style plus there's some great uses of music but sadly the 'story' is simple (which can be fine) but poorly executed, not what it could've been

'The Party (2017)', which tells the tale of a dinner party awkwardly gone awry, plays out in real time and relies solely on the dynamics between its seven core characters, who deliver dialogue that mostly does that debatably grounding and realistic thing of actually being about quote unquote 'nothing' - swapping Tarantino's signature pop-culture-spewing style with one that focuses on the main socio-economic and political views of modern Britain (issues which have their place and need to be talked about but are here almost used as filler). While it is fairly entertaining for the majority of its very short runtime, once you look back on the overall narrative it feels somewhat empty (and, dare I say, unnecessary), especially when you know where it leaves off and how many of its seemingly insignificant plot strands are simply left dangling. It's a darkly satirical piece and there are a few nice moments which stand out from the otherwise forgettable proceedings. It's also technically very well conceived, genuinely feeling like an encounter one might have at an unfortunate New Year's Eve party. 6/10.

Although a very short 'one-act' piece, it is a beautifully crafted piece of intelligent entertainment, that's surprisingly cinematic for its small scale. The black comedy (in places very dry) may not be to everyone's taste. Much to my surprise, it came as a wonderful breath of fresh air after the more-or-less total, over-hyped dross of Bladerunner 2049 that I saw the night before.

How much you enjoy this 'movie' will depend on how forgiving you are. The actors are, of course, first-rate, but even they struggle with a script that's bizarre and cliched and a plot that's irrational, unbelievable, riddled with holes and as shallow as a summer puddle. It comes dressed as something deep but quickly turns out to be something jejune. In consequence, no one comes out of this covered with glory. Dialogue feels forced and wholly unrealistic, while the characters are two-dimensional cut-outs at best. There's a little dabbling in politics (parliamentary, national, class, sexual, relationship) but it's all very simple, and a brief nod towards the conflict between atheism and Christianity is refereed in part by the empty mumblings of faith healer Ganz. I'd rather love to know where banker Tom obtains an automatic pistol and shoulder holster at short notice in modern-day Britain, why his immediate response to his discovery of wifely infidelity is to murder her lover, and how his two-timing wife actually turns out to be (apparently) a bi-sexual three-timing wife with two lovers who are both about twice her age. In fact the two 'token' lesbians also have a similar age gap so maybe this is wishful thinking by near-septuagenarian author Sally Potter. As I said, if you're forgiving you may look past this mishmash and enjoy Spall and Scott-Thomas doing their thing but even they, I fear, won't be watching re-runs of this in order to spare themselves embarrassment. Bruno Ganz and Patricia Clarkson are both wasted and Cillian Murphy does his best with a ludicrous part. Emily Mortimer has to speak dialogue that would have made her cringe at acting school.

A richly dark social satire by Sally Potter moves in real time in the home (Islington, maybe??) of uber couple Janet (Kristen Scott Thomas) and Bill (Timothy Spall), who are hosting a small intimate gathering of friends to celebrate her promotion as Shadow Minister of Health. Bill, an acclaimed academic, however, is preoccupied and increasingly inebriated as he works through his old vinyl record collection, while Janet prepares food and takes calls from well- wishers. Guests start to arrive, and a wonderfully eclectic liberal and north London lot seem to be assembling. There is acerbic American, April (Patricia Clarkson) and her new age boyfriend Gottfried (Bruno Ganz); Martha (Cherry Jones) an academic colleague of Bill's and her much younger heavily pregnant wife, Jinny (Emily Mortimer), and then a palpitating mass of turmoil that is Tom (Cillian Murphy) the 'wanker banker' arrives, rushing to snort coke in the bathroom and then assuring everybody with much perspiration that his lovely wife, Marianne, Janet's assistant, is delayed but will arrive soon… or maybe by Coffee! Although all have seemingly come to praise Janet, each seems to be carrying their own dramatic news; seemingly everyone has secrets. Bill makes his own announcement, which is the catalyst for an escalation towards all- out confrontation; the canapes can go up in smoke and the gathering of friends begins to unravel. All of this wonderful fayre is crammed into a breakneck 71 minute, single act, black and white, ensemble piece throughout which Scott Thomas is in devastating form as she deals and then doesn't, conceals and then reveals much ado about plenty! It may be a view of the social elite, the political class, the insiders, but it shines a much needed light onto the human condition and our capacity to surprise one another. This ensemble are hilarious with belly laugh out loud moments (I'm sure the way I was laughing was a code violation), witty one liners aplenty. The caustic and chaotic interplay is a joy to behold and this film zips along totally in tune and ends with a wonderful twist.