The Anniversary Party
The Anniversary Party is a 2001 American comedy-drama film co-written, co-directed, co-produced by, and co-starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming, both making their respective feature directorial debuts. It is Phoebe Cates's final film appearance before her retirement. Plot Sally Nash and Joe Therrian are a Hollywood couple celebrating their sixth wedding anniversary shortly after reconciling following a period of separation. He is a novelist who is about to direct the screen adaptation of his most recent bestseller; she is an actress he has opted not to cast in the lead role, despite the fact it's partly based on her, because he feels she's too old for the part. This decision, coupled with an ongoing dispute about their barking dog Otis with their strait-laced, non-industry neighbors, clean-and-sober writer Ryan and interior decorator Monica Rose, has resulted in an undercurrent of tension between the two as they prepare for the arrival of their guests. Among them are aging actor Cal Gold, Sally's co-star in the romantic comedy film she presently is shooting, his wife Sophia, and their two young children; director Mac Forsyth, who is directing Sally and Cal's film, and his anorexic, neurotic wife Clair; photographer Gina Taylor, whose relationship