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plot summary: Alan and Jennifer play a married Hollywood couple who are celebrating their 6-year wedding anniversary with a gathering of their close friends, neighbors, contemporaries. In sort-of a "Big Chill" fashion, fights ensue, secrets are revealed, and bonds are strengthened, blah blah blah...
who should see this movie: Nobody. Oh, ok, fine, people who are interested in shallow movie star lives, anyone who wants an inside look at Sofia Coppola's Hollywood Hills home which is where this was shot (just hit "mute" and look at the lovely scenery), fans of Mary Lynn Rajskub and Karen Kilgariff's band, Girls Guitar Club (they have a brief, but delightful, performance, so un-hit "mute").
who should NOT see this movie: Everyone. Oh, fine...Gwyneth Paltrow haters.
best film moment: It's actually in the DVD extras --- one of the film editors talks about how difficult it was for Gwyneth to do a scene where she toasts the couple of the hour. Let me take a quick second here to mention that the anniversary toasts were actually written by many of the cast members themselves, so the reactions you see from the other actors at the party are sort-of genuine; it's actually the first time they've heard those lines. In Paltrow's case, her lines were all scripted by Cumming and Leigh. But apparently she still couldn't handle them. *Cough.* So anyhoo, the editor is talking about how they had to splice together some moments to create something that would work, and the moment where Gwyneth is laughing before she starts her toast? Apparently, that's "Gwyneth", laughing 'cause she couldn't get her take down. And the editor says something delightfully snarky like, "We decided to leave it in because it was perfect for the character, who is self-absorbed and shallow..." --- HA!
The cast for this is amazing: Phoebe Cates, Parker Posey, Jane Adams, John C. Reilly, Mary Lynn and Karen. But the film itself is shallow and superficial --- on one hand, this is apparently what Alan and Jennifer had set out to create. Listening to the DVD commentary, they talk about how they wanted this couple to come off as spoiled and unlikeable. But this also makes you not care about their idiotic lives. Who cares if this couple is back together? Who cares if they're having a baby? Big frickin' deal!
The movie takes an astoundingly idiotic leap when Paltrow's ingenue "character", "Skye Davidson" (sorry but there's so much in this horrible movie that demands ironic quote marks), brings out the Ecstasy. Oh brother. We are then treated to some really moronic performances, including a pigtailed Cumming telling John C. Reilly mid-conversation, "I really need to bounce right now", and the otherwise-talented Phoebe Cates rubbing her face in a tree branch. Sigh.
So not worth your time. (janice.12.04)
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