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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 6, 2001)
¡uJy fi.2ÛÛ1 » FILM .... ▼.... Hollywood and the hills hat old Hollywood joke that actors all day politics of enter dream of directing is a cliché, but it’s less fre ing a community quently mentioned that actors do seem to and recording its make good directors. Films in recent years by culture—seems Robert Duvall (The Apostle), Jodie Foster (Home fascinating and for the Holidays), Sean Penn (The Pledge) and Liv valid. The music Ullmann (Faithless), all of whom made their is impeccably by C hristopher M c Q uain names as actors, have been rather well received. researched; So one goes into The Anniversary Party, the incidentally and passing with little comment.) teaches school. She intends Greenwald obvi new film co-written and co-directed by (and The Anniversary Party takes much longer to to pursue her project of col ously has spent starring!) Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cum lecting, transcribing and lose interest in its tiresome detours than the time with the ming, optimistically assuming the direction at audience undoubtedly will. This is a shame, recording the indigenous Smithsonian least will showcase the well-aimed spontaneity because in the final hour, when it finally focus music of mountain people. American Anthol and inventiveness that both actors usually es on dissecting the relationships between the But things don’t go exact ogy of Folk Music. manifest in front of the camera. It’s a letdown, couple and the more integral guests, confes ly as Lily planned. She has But she seems then, that the first third of the movie contains trouble getting her research to lose all re sions are made, wounds are opened, and the exactly the indulgences one prejudicially would straint when it film dives exhilaratingly from its oblivious subjects—poor people who expect of a movie made by actors. comes to the ozone to plumb some rare emotional depths. have not had good experi Leigh and Cumming team up to throw quite trite love-inter The story takes place on one fateful evening ences at the hands of the Watching Joe and Sally evolve from a flip a party est story line when Sally and Joe (Leigh and Cumming), in pant, irritating pair of showbiz superficialities learned and privileged—to celebration of the surprising longevity of their involving Tom Bledsoe (Aidan Quinn), a local into a real couple with shattering insecurities, a trust her, and she discovers, to her horror, that man who plays guitar and causes Lily, entirely troubled marriage, throw themselves a sixth scarred past, terrible secrets and a tender, frag Elna’s female roommate is actually her lover. out of character, to swoon. These sequences, a anniversary party at their exclusive hilltop home Lily condemns her sister and remains aloof ile bond is authentically moving. The Anniver constant distraction from the more worthy outside Los Angeles. The setting is ripe for expos sary Party is deeply flawed by its scattershot ini from the community; with everyone well alien parts of the story, display an unbecoming senti itory anecdotes and confessions from the couple ated, she realizes she must learn new ways of tial setup, but its end stretch is almost extraor mentality, contradicting and undermining the perceiving and communicating with her fellow and their guests; the problem is, at least half of dinary enough to redeem it. human beings. However, even as she makes film’s stoic dignity. the attendees (high-powered Hollyw<xxi industry Although The Anniversary Party bests Song- headway in her research and repairing her rela characters played by Leigh and Cumming’s ane Adams, a fine character actor and one catcher by virtue of its almost-successful uncon tionship with her sister, religious fundamental famous actor friends) are frankly extraneous. of the more poorly utilized acting talents in ventionality and emotional power, they both ists interfere, leading to a tragedy that destroys It seems that in this case, the casting/writ- The Anniversary Party, also has a prominent must be called interesting failures. Neither is a her sister’s happy home and ruins Lily’s ing eyes were bigger than the production stom supporting role in Songcatcher, written and waste of time, but be forewarned: The former is research. ach, and as the guests arrive and begin to min directed by Maggie Greenwald. like having the unfunniest bits of LA. Story To Greenwald’s credit, she avoids patroniz gle, some of the performers are required to Janet McTeer (Tumbleweeds) stars as the spliced into a Bergman film, and the latter is ing any of her characters; even the fire-and- film’s protagonist, Dr. Lily Penleric. She is a enact seemingly interminable scenes of point like catching Willa Cather cribbing from a brimstone fundamentalists aren’t painted with musicologist at the turn of the century who, less, belabored quirkiness. (Joe’s bisexuality— supermarket romance paperback. JF1 too broad a brush, and the lesbian story line in one of the guests is his well-wishing ex feeling forced to leave a prestigious college particular is handled with a remarkable degree boyfriend—is, happily for the film’s queer audi after being passed over for a promotion because C hristopher M c Q uain is a Portland writer and she’s a woman, moves to a tiny Appalachian of understanding and subtlety. ence, not a mere quirk but simply an accept tireless observer of pop culture. The film’s real subject—the ethics and social able part of Joe and Sally’s history, coming up community where her sister Etna (Adams) T Queer-positive films The Anniversary Party and Songcatcher are mixed bags J W c ' k tAc bit Raltm fit'll ivci hah CA* Make Bender Properties your real estate home. Put your feet up and relax! Details are our business. You won’t lift a finger as we attend to every aspect of buying or selling your home-even the lit tle chores that others sweep under the rug. And successful? 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