Sally Potter returns to the silver screen with a wickedly fast-paced, endearingly transient comedy that, while unashamedly overstated, is grounded by its connections to modern British politics – making it all rather apt for this picture to thrive in its farcicality. The monochrome aesthetic may give this piece a timeless feel, but it seems like a particularly pertinent presentation of a nation who currently find their left wing politics in turmoil.
The film opens with Kristin Scott Thomas as Janet, pointing a gun at the camera. Rewind an hour or so, and we learn she’s the host of a dinner party, inviting friends round to celebrate her recent promotion to shadow health minister, and its a dinner party, we have already gathered, that is to eventually turn sour. Her husband Bill (Timothy Spall) is in a peculiar mood, not exactly one for conversation – but the arrival of garrulous April (Patricia Clarkson) ensures that not be a problem, alongside her partner, the free-spirited Gottfried (Bruno Ganz) who seems intent only on taking his shoes off and having a brief meditation. Then comes the arrival of partners Martha (Cherry Jones) and Jinny (Emily Mortimer) – the latter ready to share the news she’s expecting triplets. A conversation topic that would usually take precedence over the evening – until Tom (Cillian Murphy) arrives, flustered, on cocaine, and with a gun in his pocket – and it’s one he intends on using.
But then none of them really do in this droll-witted chamber piece, and it’s a feature that does make for somewhat throwaway entertainment, and the idea that it feels like a film that was rather easy put together is a sentiment that lingers, as though Potter has returned back to basics with the sort of project you’d expect from a student honing their craft. But what a student would be without is that sharp dialogue, and the sheer talent of the cast assembled – and when you’re dealing with a film that carries an absorbing, accomplished screenplay, and several celebrated actors on hand to bring it to life, that’s generally enough to make for worthwhile trip to the cinema.