A Pocket Full of Posey

originally published June 11, 2008

The Anniversary Party

(R) 2001.

Starring both A-listers and indie phenoms (Kevin Kline, Phoebe Cates, Parker Posey, Gwyneth Paltrow and John C. Reilly) first-time directors and real-life pals Alan Cummings and Jennifer Jason Leigh construct a cast of made-up characters who bear a striking resemblance to the actors who play them. An inside job (or joke) of a film, The Anniversary Party is, at best, a more caustic and banal Big Chill. There's more dysfunction and open drug use, but in the end, all it does is over-dramatize and luxuriate the "conflicts of bored, privileged people."

Celebrity couple Joe and Sally Therrian (Cumming and Jason Leigh) celebrate their sixth year of marriage with a big party. The marriage has hit a crisis point, as Joe's directing career is taking off, but Sally's career, as an actress known for raw performances, has diminished. To make matters awkward, Joe invites Skye Davis (Gwyneth Paltrow) to the party, the siren he chose over Sally for his latest film. On the guestlist are pals from within the couple's circle, played by Kevin Kline, Phoebe Cates, Parker Posey, Jennifer Beals, John Benjamen Hickey and Jane Adams.

As the party gets going, Skye brings out the party favors: 16 hits of ecstasy. The drugs provide a means for the actors to lose their heads and pull out all the stops, but the film's merit doesn't extend past the acting. In need of cutting, the extensive footage, combined with petty drama and self-absorption, leaves the audience thinking, "Who the hell cares?"

D

Waiting For Guffman

(R) 2000.

Punning on the classic play Waiting for Godot, this mockumentary reveals what can go wrong when an amateur theater becomes overly ambitious. The buzzing city of Blaine, Missouri, achieving fame through the creation of the footstool, celebrates its 150th anniversary with a musical. High school theater teacher and repressed homosexual Corky St. Clair (Christopher Guest) is left in charge of the production, and Corky in turn enlists the talents of a husband-and-wife travel agent duo (Fred Willard and Catherine O'Hara), a Dairy Queen employee (Parker Posey) and a vision-impaired dentist (Eugene Levy). When the group gets wind of a Broadway big-wig coming to see Red, White and Blaine, they fall over themselves trying to turn their low-budget affair into an off-Broadway success. The songs are awful, the sets are cardboard and the actors, unseasoned; but everyone commits to the show as if it were Les Miserables.

With the exception of Red, White and Blaine, the script is completely improvised. Guest and his cast give an interpretation of the marginalized culture that is original and eccentric. Preparations for the hokey play set the stage for a series of memorable scenarios. Posey's role as white trash Libby Mae Brown is hysterical, perhaps one of her best performances ever.

While over-the-top, adolescent humor continues to dominate the box office, Guest's mockumentary is a reminder of how hilarious subtle wit really is.

A

Recent Releases:

Before The Devil Knows You're Dead

(R) 2007.

This dark thriller is the debut original screenplay from Karen Masterson. Directed by veteran Sidney Lumet, the film follows the deadly misadventure of two brothers (Phillip Seymor Hoffman and Ethan Hawke) who attempt to rip off their parents' jewelry store. When the heist goes bad, everything unravels into a shocking climax.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

(PG-13) 2007.

Based on the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the gregarious French Elle editor who was left completely paralyzed by a massive stroke at the young age of 43. Left only with the blinking of his left eye, Bauby used the slight movement to literally blink out a memoir. Director Julian Schnabel translates Bauby's incredible story of persistence and survival into an imagistic, cinematic masterpiece.

Bella

(PG-13) 2006.

A rather contrived plot, Bella is about the enormous change a single encounter can bring to our lives. Soccer star Jose is on his way to sign a multimillion-dollar contract when a series of unfortunate events indefinitely ends his career. While working as a cook in a Mexican restaurant, he sparks up a relationship with a young waitress, Nina, and in one day, the two are transformed through each other's narratives. This is the third film of Mexican director Alejandro Gomez.

Teeth

(R) 2007.

Described as "the Incredible Hulk of sex satires" (Boston Globe), Teeth is about a chastity-preaching high school student who makes an unfortunate discovery - her vagina has teeth. Written and directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein, Teeth combines the vagina dentata myth with a coming-of-age narrative. The result? A genre-bending satire about sexual mutilation.

Robin Geddie