The Anniversary Party

Making a Hollywood story with a decidedly un-Hollywood flair, co-writers, co-directors and co-stars Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming take a casual, almost guerilla approach to this collaborative cinema vérité production in which they play a shaky show biz couple who are throwing themselves a sixth anniversary bash even though they've just recently and tentatively reconciled after a big infidelity blow-up. Their guests--industry types and hangers-on played by the likes of Kevin Kline, Gwyneth Paltrow, Parker Posey and John C. Reilly--seem vaguely uncomfortable congratulating them on their longevity under the circumstances. But other tensions soon rattle the party, as Leigh and Cumming find comedy, conflict and emotional sincerity everywhere to drive their plot. The Anniversary Party has the air of a pet project, and it loses its way for a while in the middle, but its talented creators have taken cues from all the great directors they've worked with over the years and the result is a candid and compelling, character-driven ensemble piece with fly-on-the-wall appeal that makes it easy to forgive occasional flaws and self-indulgences. The DVD includes a directors' commentary (with Leigh and Cumming), a 20-minute Sundance channel documentary, and (using the DVD-ROM access) the screenplay. Recommended. (R. Blackwelder)