One Word Movie

The Anniversary Party

Hitchcock said that actors are cattle. This film is directed by actors. It moos. There's only two things really wrong with it. 1) the script, and 2) the direction. It's as if Jennifer Jason Leigh wanted to remake Peter's Friends, without the overwhelming comic genius of John Sessions.

There are serious reality issues throughout. Like, ok, how do you establish that a character is a novelist? Easy. Give him a brown jacket. Oh yeah. And I never realised that E's made you act like a constipated 30-something, shit, half of my friends must be on them all the time. Also, the gayness of Alan Cumming's character is invisible to JJL, even when he thrusts it in her face by wearing a T-shirt with "BOY London" written on it. Memo to JJL: George Michael doesn't like ladies.

There's basic things in this film that JJL never even thought about, either. Like, the soundtrack. Can the characters hear it? Sometimes they can, sometimes they can't. Often both in the same scene. People slag off pop-music directors but at least they can do that right. But she does like filming herself though. Bless.

My theory is that when you're making a film, and it starts going pear-shaped, the scriptwriter usually realises, but can't do anything about it. They are simply unable to cut the rope. And then they're unconsciously driven to insert a scene into the movie where a writer shakes his head over a blank page, while Barber's Adagio for Strings plays in the background. And what a surprise, you have just such a scene in this movie, with John C Reilly watching his videotapes, anguishing how he can't make them funny. Observe the relative paucity of scenes like this in the oeuvre of Kurosawa, and draw your own conclusions.

This film is shit and my God don't they know it.

posted by Chairman Peyote @ 3:01 PM