Directed by Mike Leigh • 1977 • United Kingdom
Starring Alison Steadman, Tim Stern, Janine Duvitski
Mike Leigh’s filmed version of his acclaimed stage play is a brilliantly biting comedy of manners that lays bare the bourgeois affectations and sexual frustrations of a young suburban couple. Abigail’s mother, Sue (Harriet Reynolds), is invited to take refuge from her teenage daughter’s party by a neighboring couple, Beverly (Alison Steadman) and Laurence (Tim Stern). They have also invited Angela (Janine Duvitski) and Tony (John Salthouse), new arrivals on the street. As Beverly plies her guests with alcohol, Sue becomes increasingly withdrawn and embarrassed by the pretentious goings-on—with marital tensions gradually revealing the cracks in the delusional facade.
Up Next in Comedies
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Party Girl
Directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer • 1995 • United States
Starring Parker Posey, Anthony DeSando, Guillermo DíazNineties indie queen Parker Posey is at her effortlessly cool best in this irresistible comedy, a time capsule of the era’s Manhattan club scene. She stars as Mary, a hard-partying ...
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The Lady Eve
Directed by Preston Sturges • 1941 • United States
Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles CoburnBarbara Stanwyck sizzles, Henry Fonda bumbles, and Preston Sturges runs riot in one of the all-time great screwballs, a pitch-perfect blend of comic zing and swoonworthy romance. Aboard a cr...
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Bad Night for the Blues
Directed by Chris Shepherd • 2010 • United Kingdom
It’s a holiday to remember—or not—when a young man joins his dotty elderly aunt for a Christmas party at her local Conservative Club, where the wine is flowing, the bingo is heated, and the cracks in the genteel facade start to show.
