Truly Dreadful Film

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Hollywood couple Sally (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and Joe Therrian (Alan Cumming) invite their friends and others to their home for their sixth year anniversary party. His novel is being adapted but she's not being cast as the lead. Young starlet Skye Davidson (Gwyneth Paltrow) who got the role is invited. They are disputing with their neighbors about their dog's barking and somehow got into the party. The party starts lightly but with underlining tension. However the party deteriorates.There are so many characters and so many relationships to keep track of. The large compelling cast of actors is both its appeal and its handicap. There are no throw away characters which is great but it also means there are no throw away characters. There are some fun moments but it feels a little random. Phoebe Cates does return from retirement with her real husband Kevin Kline and their kids. The movie has the feel of watching a real party. JJL and Cumming just need to refine their script to sharpen the humor.

I can't for the life of me understand why this movie is rated as highly as it is. Was it the worst movie I've ever seen? No. It was, however far from the best. I think this movie would be interesting to those who work in the film industry, an actor, director, etc. But to everyone else, this movie comes off as extremely pretentious and preachy. I felt like the basic message of the movie was "Hey, we actors lead really difficult lives, and you should feel bad for us." What this film forgets is that everyone has trials and tribulations, that's life. One of my favorite movies is "Lost in Translation", which also is about an actor unhappy with life. However the great thing about LIT is that the main character actually does other things besides moan and groan about how awful his life is. very funny, entertaining movie, unlike AP. Basically, my complaint about this movie is that there was an endless amount of unnecessary drama over problems in the character's lives, and the problems weren't even that bad in comparison to what some people go through. What's more, I found all the characters annoying and completely selfish. If you are able to relate to the characters, you may enjoy this movie, however I found it impossible. Not for me, I'm afraid.-Heidi

Saw this on IFC last night. One poster on the MB explained to another poster that the movie: "serves as a take of how seriously the Hollywood 'citizens' take themselves to the point where they can't function in their own lives without something industrial." So what does that say about Alan Cumming and Jennifer Jason Leigh, who were responsible for this pretentiousness? "We're whiny, indulgent, self-absorbed, elitist twerps, but we KNOW that we're whiny, indulgent, self-absorbed, elitist twerps"? Okay!Cumming and Leigh as a couple was even more laughable than Cumming admiring the flat-chested Gwyneth Paltrow's "great t*ts"! With the Latina help absconded in the kitchen as though they had been grounded, their lily-white employers and lily-white guests play games, jump in the pool, and get blasted on Ecstasy while spewing the most insipid filth within earshot of the kids one couple foolishly hauled along with them!Steve Rhodes, whose reviews I usually agree with, called the scene in which Phoebe Cates tells Leigh that once you have children, you can't commit suicide because "kids rob you of that option" "a bitingly true commentary on parenthood"; I call it idiotic! Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, Kurt Cobain, Diane Arbus were parents, and they committed suicide!If I were the dog, I would have ran away from this house, too!

I can't find much to say about this film. It was as dull as laundry day and filled with self important yet completely vapid people who cannot get along with anyone because they are all so concerned with themselves. They whine and moan and complain so much that after a while you'll feel like killing them all. It was made by Jennifer Jason Leigh, which to me is quite telling. This woman is regarded by many in Hollywood to be a great actress, which does in part explain why American movies are so awful. She is a dullard. Her name in the cast list of any movie is like a warning that a dull movie lies in store - and she MADE this one. I got the impression from the film that she thinks that it represents how people truly are and what "real life" is - but if for some reason she happens to be reading this, let me say emphatically to her that it does NOT. Of course it does paint a picture of her tragic little world of NY to LA movie types - but that is her problem, and there is a real life beyond Hollywood's artificial one (it's telling how these adults take Ecstacy, a kiddie drug that provides users with artificial emotions to go with their artificial lives). I do not want to be a part of that world and do not want to attend their parties, therefore I am sorry that I watched this. It might be a good wakeup call to anyone who dreams of movie stardom though. These people are so full of themselves because they are so empty of everything else. Actually I have to amend that statement - they are full of something else, though the twain may be hard to discern.This film, the type of people in it, and Jennifer Jason Leigh - they all deserve each other. I can't wait until Hollywood falls into the ocean.