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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

97
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
83
Alexandra
43
Anamorph
35
Babysitters, The
32
Backseat
80
Band's Visit, The
62
Battle for Haditha
47
Bella
63
Blind Mountain
71
Blindsight
47
Boarding Gate
63
Body of War
58
Bra Boys
70
Caramel
54
Cashback
44
Chaos Theory
32
Chapter 27
69
Chicago 10
82
Chop Shop
46
CJ7
78
Counterfeiters, The
30
Cover
48
Dark Matter
35
Deal
61
Dhamma Brothers, The
92
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
73
Duchess of Langeais, The
20
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
58
Fall, The
43
Favor, The
58
First Saturday in May, The
57
Flawless
87
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
xx
From Within
44
Frontier(s)
59
Fugitive Pieces
41
Funny Games
66
George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead
61
Girls Rock!
55
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
57
Grand, The
58
Hats Off
68
Honeydripper
xx
Jack and Jill vs. the World
67
Jellyfish
xx
Kiss the Bride
37
Life Before Her Eyes, The
72
Life of Reilly, The
50
Look
65
Married Life
35
Meet Bill
63
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
54
Mister Lonely
52
My Blueberry Nights
71
My Brother Is an Only Child
52
Noise
61
OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
83
Paranoid Park
55
Pathology
48
Penelope
90
Persepolis
62
Planet B-Boy
xx
Plumm Summer, A
67
Praying with Lior
46
Previous Engagement, A
72
Priceless
17
Prom Night
69
Redbelt
72
Roman de gare
48
Run, Fat Boy, Run
85
Savages, The
24
Sex and Death 101
66
Shelter
75
Shotgun Stories
40
Sleepwalking
67
Snow Angels
64
Son of Rambow
71
Standard Operating Procedure
76
Stuff and Dough
64
Surfwise
xx
Tashan
82
Taxi to the Dark Side
57
Teeth
56
Then She Found Me
55
Tracey Fragments, The
56
Turn the River
72
Tuya's Marriage
83
U2 3D
59
Under the Same Moon
76
Unforeseen, The
xx
Unsettled
91
Up the Yangtze
55
Vice
79
Visitor, The
64
Water Lilies
45
Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?
57
Without the King
74
Witnesses, The
63
XXY
67
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
75
Young@Heart
45
Zombie Strippers
97
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
92
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
91
Up the Yangtze
90
Persepolis
87
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
85
Savages, The
83
Paranoid Park
83
Alexandra
83
U2 3D
82
Chop Shop
82
Taxi to the Dark Side
80
Band's Visit, The
79
Visitor, The
78
Counterfeiters, The
76
Unforeseen, The
76
Stuff and Dough
75
Young@Heart
75
Shotgun Stories
74
Witnesses, The
73
Duchess of Langeais, The
72
Roman de gare
72
Priceless
72
Tuya's Marriage
72
Life of Reilly, The
71
My Brother Is an Only Child
71
Blindsight
71
Standard Operating Procedure
70
Caramel
69
Redbelt
69
Chicago 10
68
Honeydripper
67
Snow Angels
67
Praying with Lior
67
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
67
Jellyfish
66
George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead
66
Shelter
65
Married Life
64
Surfwise
64
Son of Rambow
64
Water Lilies
63
XXY
63
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
63
Body of War
63
Blind Mountain
62
Planet B-Boy
62
Battle for Haditha
61
Dhamma Brothers, The
61
OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
61
Girls Rock!
59
Under the Same Moon
59
Fugitive Pieces
58
First Saturday in May, The
58
Fall, The
58
Hats Off
58
Bra Boys
57
Flawless
57
Teeth
57
Without the King
57
Grand, The
56
Turn the River
56
Then She Found Me
55
Vice
55
Tracey Fragments, The
55
Pathology
55
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
54
Cashback
54
Mister Lonely
52
Noise
52
My Blueberry Nights
50
Look
48
Run, Fat Boy, Run
48
Dark Matter
48
Penelope
47
Bella
47
Boarding Gate
46
CJ7
46
Previous Engagement, A
45
Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?
45
Zombie Strippers
44
Frontier(s)
44
Chaos Theory
43
Anamorph
43
Favor, The
41
Funny Games
40
Sleepwalking
37
Life Before Her Eyes, The
35
Meet Bill
35
Babysitters, The
35
Deal
32
Backseat
32
Chapter 27
30
Cover
24
Sex and Death 101
20
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
17
Prom Night
xx
Tashan
xx
Unsettled
xx
Plumm Summer, A
xx
Kiss the Bride
xx
Jack and Jill vs. the World
xx
From Within
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Anniversary Party, The
Fine Line Features
MPAA RATING: R for language, drug use and nudity
Starring
Alan Cumming,
Jennifer Jason Leigh,
Kevin Kline,
Phoebe Cates,
Parker Posey,
John Benjamin Hickey,
Jennifer Beals,
and
Gwyneth Paltrow
Taking 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)
| GENRE(S): |
Romance
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Alan Cumming
Jennifer Jason Leigh
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Alan Cumming
Jennifer Jason Leigh
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: January 15, 2002
Video: January 15, 2002
Theatrical: June 8, 2001
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
115 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
A caustic comedy of Hollywood manners.

88
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
A caustic, funny, low-budget treat, shot on digital video.

80
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
I can't recall the last time a picture left me feeling so caffeinated.

80
The New York Times
Stephen Holden
Despite its shortcomings, this smart, caustic movie is easily the most incisive and realistic comedy of manners to emerge from Hollywood in quite a while, and that's saying a lot.

80
Time
Richard Schickel
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.
80
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Although the movie -- falls occasional prey to pretension, it's a classic guilty pleasure.

78
Austin Chronicle
Kimberley Jones
Some of The Anniversary Party's titillation factor rests on the awareness that these are actors playing actors, in roles written specifically for them that at times appear awfully close to home.

75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
Has a loose, improvisatory feel that rings true.
75
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
What makes The Anniversary Party intriguing is how close it cuts to the bone of reality--how we're teased to draw parallels between some of the characters and the actors who play them.

75
Portland Oregonian
Kim Morgan
For all its superfluous and self-conscious moments, the picture is a draining kick.

70
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
They turn what could have been an acting stunt into an intimate and compelling study of bruised emotions.

70
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
Cumming and Leigh -- bring to their stylish, incisive and compassionate film an immediacy and a bracing snap.

63
Baltimore Sun
Chris Kaltenbach
A cautionary tale, a warning not to gather all of your neurotic friends in one room - or better yet, not to have so many neurotic friends.
63
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
Isn't what you'd call a probing film, but it's a slick and savvy one.
63
New York Post
Jonathan Foreman
Energetic, often very funny comedy filled with sharp, vivid performances by a terrific ensemble cast.
60
Mr. Showbiz
Kevin Maynard
The overlapping dialogue and the comedy of famous people playing self-variations is pure Altman (Leigh, not surprisingly, has worked in three Altman films).
58
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
As a work of art, the movie, shot quickly on digital video, is genial enough if unrefined.

50
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Watchable, if at times familiar.

50
LA Weekly
Manohla Dargis
It's no great surprise that the best part of The Anniversary Party is the acting, even if Leigh and Cumming don't always direct themselves as well as they do some of their co-stars.

50
Washington Post
Stephen Hunter
A celebration of the actor's art – but not the dramatist's.

50
Film.com
Robert Horton
Feels more like a backyard relaxation than a movie.

50
New Times (L.A.)
Gregory Weinkauf
When it's all over, one is less compelled to applaud than to give each "character" a sympathetic hug.

50
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
If nothing else, the movie proves even the rich and famous make boring home videos.
50
USA Today
Staff [Not Credited]
If one of its points is to show that underused thirtyish actresses still are attractive, it succeeds with Leigh and Cates -- and Jennifer Beals, who also provides a flashback feeling playing Cummings' ex-squeeze.
50
TV Guide
Ken Fox
It's a good thing that Cummings and Leigh have such talented friends: They may overstay their welcome, but it's the entertaining guests who end up saving this poorly planned party.

40
Village Voice
Amy Taubin
The film's greatest failure, however, is the absence of any convincing emotional or sexual relationship between Sally (Leigh) and Joe (Cumming).

40
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
Like so many parties, this one goes on too long.
40
Variety
Todd McCarthy
Too familiar in its basic trajectory to be fresh or compelling.

20
Slate
David Edelstein
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.

20
New York Magazine
Peter Rainer
A heavy dose of movie-colony narcissism posing as warts-and-all honesty.


The average user rating for this movie is 6.1 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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