ThiefHott Too much of everything

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Organnall Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

ShadeGrenade I never saw 'Abigail's Party' in 1977 and seemed to have missed the repeats, so I was grateful to 'The Observer' for giving the D.V.D. away last Sunday. It was devised and directed by the talented Mike Leigh, with the dialogue improvised by the cast.It centres around a posh party thrown by overbearing Beverly ( Alison Steadman ) and her control freak husband Lawrence ( Tim Stern ). They have invited their neighbours - divorcée Susan ( Harriet Reynolds ) and husband-and-wife Angela ( the wonderful Janine Duvitski ) and Tony ( John Salthouse ).Beverly's taste in music extends as far as Tom Jones and Demis Roussos ( the obese Greek who got to No.1 in Britain in the mid-'70's with 'Forever & Ever' ) and her idea of art is tacky pseudo-porn. Lawrence fancies himself as an art buff, listens to James Galway, and brags about owning 'The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare', despite never having read a word. Angela is every bit as vapid as Beverly, and while they chat Tony looks thoroughly embarrassed. He is like a volcano waiting to erupt and at the end, does.Poor Susan has gone to the party mainly to escape from the one her daughter, the Abigail of the title, is currently throwing. From all accounts it sounds like the orgy of the century. She too is a reluctant guest ( and vomits in the bathroom at one point ). Beverley's probing questions about her failed marriage causes her distress, but the hostess appears not to notice. So you have an interesting mix of characters here. Lawrence and Beverly are perfect examples of people trying to be something they are not. Another reviewer claims this is a revealing snap-shot of '70's life, but I beg to differ. Change the fashions, alter a few details here and there, and the story would work now. We've all been to parties like this, where the men are sidelined by the women ( I went to one in June ), and we've all met a dozen or so social-climbers like 'Beverly'. The era in which it was made is irrelevant.Nothing much happens over the course of 101 minutes ( Lawrence and Beverly row over art, and he experiences a fatal heart attack ), but the dialogue is believable and performances are uniformly excellent, particularly Alison Steadman as the dreadful, self-obsessed 'Beverly'. She has been rightly described as the prototype for 'Edina' from 'Absolutely Fabulous'. Chain smoking, talking rubbish, flirting openly with her male guests, she is a total pain ( though admittedly very sexy! ). Janine Duvitski's 'Angela' likewise has much in common with 'Pippa', her 'One Foot In The Grave' character.Like the title character in 'Waiting For Godot', Abigail is only talked about but never seen. In the years since its broadcast, the play has acquired a cult following, and some fans stage their own parties by way of tribute. So thanks to the 'Observer' for letting me have a good laugh for free. The accompanying article, however, featured the likes of Arabella Weir, Julia Davis, and Tony Holland all claiming to have derived inspiration from Mike Leigh's play. In what way? 'Abigail's Party' was funny!

Red-Barracuda Mike Leigh's teleplay Abigail's Party is a character driven portrait of life in the suburbs in 70's Britain. It's about a drinks party hosted by a couple called Beverley and Laurence, attended by guests Ange and Tony, who have newly moved into the street, and Susan, a neighbour whose teenage daughter Abigail is having her own party at her house that same evening.This is a party from hell. Beverly and Laurence are two of the most appalling hosts imaginable. While she is overbearing and ignorant, he is highly-strung and pretentious. They are two sides of the same coin though; where she likes throwaway pop music he likes classical, where she is fond of tacky erotic art he prefers fine art. At least Beverly's taste seems genuine, Laurence appears to choose things that makes him feel superior but it all seems purely for show, like his collected works of Shakespeare on which he enthuses about the quality of the jacket material, the contents he describes hilariously as unreadable. As the night progresses this pair of idiots battle amongst themselves in front of their guests creating umpteen squirm-inducing moments. The guests themselves are not much better. Ange is simple-minded and irritating, her husband Tony, taciturn and aggressive, while the third guest, the divorcée Susan, is stiff and stand-offish. Together they have the sort of chemistry that ordinarily in life comes with a toxic warning label.Class is at the heart of much of the drama. Beverly and Laurence are a middle class suburban couple; Ange and Tony represent the lower-middle class, while Susan inhabits the upper-middle. Part of Beverley's reasoning behind the party is to induct Ange and Tony into her social strata. The latter couple are new to the street and seem to be from a lower income bracket; this allows Beverley to patronizingly take Ange under her wing. Susan, on the other hand, does not need to work as she is supported by her architect ex-husband and while she inhabits a level that Beverly aspires to, she clearly is not a happy woman. She still appears to be traumatized by her divorce and she seems to be very self-conscious in company. Although her discomfort in this social gathering does provide the audience with an identification figure of sorts, as most people would feel thoroughly uncomfortable in this car crash of a get-together.Alison Steadman is tremendous as Beverly. This extremely well-crafted comic character is the dark soul of Abigail's Party. She is alternately fawning and unpleasant, but always selfish. She bullies her guests into doing exactly what she wants at all times, from insisting that everyone listen to the tacky music of Demis Roussos to forcing Ange and Tony to take cigarettes despite the fact they both are in the process of giving up. She forcefully prevents Susan from leaving to check on her daughter despite fuelling the flames of her paranoia by tactlessly implying that the kids would be running riot next door. Alison Steadman nails this character in a way that is firmly believable, she never descends into caricature. The rest of the cast are generally impressive too, the other standout being Janine Duvitski's portrayal of Ange. Through her various bits of inane dialogue, and her husband's gruff responses, she allows the audience to read between the lines and work out that her marriage is a terrible one but like Beverly she is no one-dimensional caricature, as by the end of the film she is the only character who really comes to the fore and ends the piece with any credit. Well-written dramas often confound expectations in this way.One of the things I love about Abigail's Party is that it's a real period piece. The fashions, décor and music all scream 1977. But the drama is timeless, as the people are believable and the comic moments still subtly effective. It's the skillful mix of comedy with believable drama that is ultimately the key to its enduring success. The film ends in a very dark tone indeed, with the seemingly strong characters becoming weak and vice-versa. This tragicomedy doesn't play by conventional expectations and perhaps this is partly why it's so good.

threeyears Beverly.. what a woman. This is 1977 and she is one of a kind. I feel as if she lives on today, because the nuances of her character continue to echo into countless present day screen icons. We see shades of Marjorie Doors (Little Britain) borrowing her patronising vocal confirmations and put downs, shards of Jill (Nighty Night) continuing her friendly bullying regime, and a few spoonfuls of the self centred hedonistic Edina (Ab Fab) trying to get the most out of every situation, for herself.So thats Beverly. As for the play itself, it starts off very amusingly. There is an absolutely CLASSIC scene you will be playing again and again where Beverly takes Angela to one side for some criticism about her lipstick application technique. You will possibly find yourself in stitches, mimicking her sultry application action. As the play progresses (and Beverly gets more drunk) I found myself getting as irritated as the characters themselves, until I wanted to shout SHUT UP BEVERLY and throw the TV out of my window. I didn't understand why Tony was so miserable throughout.. or why Angela spoke as if she was a few pennies short of a fiver (maybe she in fact was?). A delicious snapshot of a feasible suburban nightmare none-the-less! I shudder to think what my neighbours get up to..

honolulu I was most impressed by this film, which is really a theatre play on a similar theme to American Beauty, but I will need some time to mentally recover from it.Certainly the set design and the characters costumes are magnificent examples of their time and social milieu. The particular combination of these five characters- two relatively recently married dysfunctional 'heterosexual' couples and a sad 'divorcee'- sets up some fascinating tensions in the realm of inter-personal relations. The plot is like a psychotherapy case study about relations between men and women, and the acting is compelling. Alison Steadman's Beverly is grating but consistent and convincing- hard to forget. I could empathise with the anguish felt by her husband Laurence (Tim Stern), a pathetic aspiring social climber. He is justly appalled by Beverly's narcissistic indulgence as an ingratiating and domineering hostess with the aid of his 'financial support'.Angela (Jane Duvitski) is very well acted, as a spineless sycophant, except for her closing rendition of a leg cramp. Her husband Tony (John Salthouse) is beautifully portrayed, with brewing anger suppressing violence. Susan (Harriet Reynolds) is similarly intriguing, but by the end of the film, it is finally apparent that her part is actually just boring. The most astute and engaging role model is that of Susan's ex-husband, who is happily divorced and by all accounts enjoying himself at a healthy distance away from this suburban collection of sick, sad, and miserable company.