PARK CITY, Utah -- Fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, two parties, twice the angst and generational foolishness. With such an agenda, Canadian writer-director Gary Burns ("The Suburbanators") delivers a watchable-but-uninvolving, low-budget independent comedy-drama that served as the opening-night fare at the Slamdance Film Festival.
"Kitchen Party" has a few memorably chaotic moments, but it's marred by uneven performances by an ensemble cast of veterans and newcomers as well as an unwieldy scenario that unfolds in one afternoon and evening. Its theatrical prospects are lackluster at best.
While some issues raised are pertinent, most of the subjects -- particularly the adults -- are caricatures with one or two defining aspects, resulting in predictable confrontations and complications that could have been funnier and more insightful.
On his way to college if he can stay out of trouble, Scott Scott Speedman) is the busy host of a beer-and-babes party when his parents go to an overnight gathering of their own. With bud Wayne (Tygh Runyan) and new flame Tammy (Laura Harris), Scott and others chat over brews in the kitchen, with the immaculately cleaned and arranged living room strictly off-limits.
Also taboo is any contact with Scott's loser older brother Steve Jason Wiles), who resides in the basement consuming drugs and listening to loud, abrasive music. In an ongoing series of encounters, while Scott is busy running errands and dealing with crises, Tammy gets chummy with Steve offscreen and eventually they leave together.
At the other party, the parents drink and gab, and it gets ugly. Scott's blowhard father (Kevin McNulty) insults macho host Lester (Jerry Wasserman) when he makes an offhand joke. Lester's supposedly well-raised son keeps a collection of pubic hairs from his conquests, and the mere suggestion they might not be female sends his dad into a righteous fit of anger.
The mothers, including Scott's tolerant, combative crusader-mom (Gillian Barber), are the least satisfying ingredient in the brew, and the younger female characters are whiny, devious or drunk. Vehicular mishaps and deliberate destruction of property and establishment symbols (golf courses, vintage cars, living rooms) ensue courtesy of unpredictable Steve and brooding Lester Jr. (Dave Cox). Cops and a gun are worked into the plot, but thankfully there's no escalation to serious violence.
As a dysfunctional community demolition derby, "Kitchen Party" shows the ups and downs of rebellious acts in a stifling suburban environment, but it's not so darkly comic that it makes a lasting impression or breaks new ground.
KITCHEN PARTY
Cadence Entertainment
and Nine Iron Films Ltd.
a Sub Urban Film Co. production
Writer-director: Gary Burns
Producers: Christine Haebler, John Hazlett
Executive producers: James Head, Scott Kennedy
Editors: Mark Lemmon, Reginald Harkema
Director of photography: Robert Aschmann
Production designer: Douglas Hardwick
Music: Schaun Tozer
Color/stereo
Cast:
Scott: Scott Speedman
Tammy: Laura Harris
Barb: Gillian Barber
Brent: Kevin McNulty
Wayne: Tygh Runyan
Steve: Jason Wiles
Lester Sr.: Jerry Wasserman
Lester Jr.: Dave Cox
Running time -- 86 minutes
No MPAA rating...
"Kitchen Party" has a few memorably chaotic moments, but it's marred by uneven performances by an ensemble cast of veterans and newcomers as well as an unwieldy scenario that unfolds in one afternoon and evening. Its theatrical prospects are lackluster at best.
While some issues raised are pertinent, most of the subjects -- particularly the adults -- are caricatures with one or two defining aspects, resulting in predictable confrontations and complications that could have been funnier and more insightful.
On his way to college if he can stay out of trouble, Scott Scott Speedman) is the busy host of a beer-and-babes party when his parents go to an overnight gathering of their own. With bud Wayne (Tygh Runyan) and new flame Tammy (Laura Harris), Scott and others chat over brews in the kitchen, with the immaculately cleaned and arranged living room strictly off-limits.
Also taboo is any contact with Scott's loser older brother Steve Jason Wiles), who resides in the basement consuming drugs and listening to loud, abrasive music. In an ongoing series of encounters, while Scott is busy running errands and dealing with crises, Tammy gets chummy with Steve offscreen and eventually they leave together.
At the other party, the parents drink and gab, and it gets ugly. Scott's blowhard father (Kevin McNulty) insults macho host Lester (Jerry Wasserman) when he makes an offhand joke. Lester's supposedly well-raised son keeps a collection of pubic hairs from his conquests, and the mere suggestion they might not be female sends his dad into a righteous fit of anger.
The mothers, including Scott's tolerant, combative crusader-mom (Gillian Barber), are the least satisfying ingredient in the brew, and the younger female characters are whiny, devious or drunk. Vehicular mishaps and deliberate destruction of property and establishment symbols (golf courses, vintage cars, living rooms) ensue courtesy of unpredictable Steve and brooding Lester Jr. (Dave Cox). Cops and a gun are worked into the plot, but thankfully there's no escalation to serious violence.
As a dysfunctional community demolition derby, "Kitchen Party" shows the ups and downs of rebellious acts in a stifling suburban environment, but it's not so darkly comic that it makes a lasting impression or breaks new ground.
KITCHEN PARTY
Cadence Entertainment
and Nine Iron Films Ltd.
a Sub Urban Film Co. production
Writer-director: Gary Burns
Producers: Christine Haebler, John Hazlett
Executive producers: James Head, Scott Kennedy
Editors: Mark Lemmon, Reginald Harkema
Director of photography: Robert Aschmann
Production designer: Douglas Hardwick
Music: Schaun Tozer
Color/stereo
Cast:
Scott: Scott Speedman
Tammy: Laura Harris
Barb: Gillian Barber
Brent: Kevin McNulty
Wayne: Tygh Runyan
Steve: Jason Wiles
Lester Sr.: Jerry Wasserman
Lester Jr.: Dave Cox
Running time -- 86 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 1/21/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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