SummaryTaking place over the course of one night, The Anniversary Party is a serio-comic, sometimes scathing inspection of a group of friends gathered for a celebration that becomes a scorching dissection of a marriage on the brink. (Fine Line Features)
Directed By:Alan Cumming, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Written By:Jennifer Jason Leigh, Alan Cumming
The Anniversary Party
Metascore
Mixed or Average
56
User score
Generally Favorable
6.6
My Score
Drag or tap to give a rating
Hover and click to give a rating
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
50% Positive
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
43% Mixed
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
7% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
100
A caustic comedy of Hollywood manners.
80
Everyone in the cast has his or her solo, and all rise brilliantly to their occasions, notably Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Beals, Mina Badie and a divinely neurotic Jane Adams.
70
Cumming and Leigh -- bring to their stylish, incisive and compassionate film an immediacy and a bracing snap.
60
The overlapping dialogue and the comedy of famous people playing self-variations is pure Altman (Leigh, not surprisingly, has worked in three Altman films).
50
When it's all over, one is less compelled to applaud than to give each "character" a sympathetic hug.
50
A celebration of the actor's art – but not the dramatist's.
20
I had a hard time maintaining interest in (let along liking) any of these self-involved Hollywood twerps, and scene after scene is a grating mixture of self-aggrandizement and masochism.
User score
Generally Favorable
63% Positive
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
25% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
13% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Jun 12, 2012
9
There's something really attractive about Anniversary Party. I remember when I was about 11 or 12, I used to wake up really early to catch some of the movies I wasn't allowed to watch on Starz. This was one of those. It wasn't until I was much older that I finally sat down and watched the whole film and I still have moments where I just want to revisit it. It really is like a small get together with actors and every time you watch the movie, you relive those moments and meetup with your old friends. Each of the performances are spot on and the writing is entertaining. The characters are narcissistic yes, but you still want more of them. I wouldn't suggest this film to many as it isn't for everyone. But perhaps a theatre actor or someone who's working in university to become an actor would benefit from it.
Nov 13, 2018
7
Quite honestly, the movie & cast was great... Leigh & Cumming were quite capable as actor/directors.
Production Company:
- Fine Line Features
- Pas de Quoi
- Ghoulardi Film Company
Release Date:Jun 8, 2001
Duration:1 h 55 m
Rating:R
Tagline:It's not a party until something gets broken.
Awards
Cannes Film Festival
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
Film Independent Spirit Awards
• 3 Nominations
National Board of Review, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
