The Party [PG]

When accident-prone Indian actor Hrundi V. Bakshi unwittingly manages to blow up a film set, blowing the film in the process, the director calls a studio executive and demands to have him placed on the “blacklist” so that he’ll never work again. However, through a clerical error, Hrundi is placed on the A-List and earns an invitation to the film executive’s swanky party. Once there and armed with nothing but innocence and the best intentions, Hrundi manages to create disaster after disaster, but also makes it a party that the guests will never forget. 

After falling for him in Being There, I was quite eager to begin watching all the Peter Sellers’ classics, after all his is a name that everyone knows when it comes to comedy. Although only featuring him in one role, unlike Dr. Strangelove, The Party nevertheless is a must-see in the Sellers collection, as it boasts a loveable and memorable performance from the man himself as well as all forms of comedy, both clever and crass. 

When accident-prone Indian actor Hrundi V. Bakshi unwittingly manages to blow up a film set, blowing the film in the process, the director calls a studio executive and demands to have him placed on the “blacklist” so that he’ll never work again. However, through a clerical error, Hrundi is placed on the A-List and earns an invitation to the film executive’s swanky party. Once there and armed with nothing but innocence and the best intentions, Hrundi manages to create disaster after disaster, but also makes it a party that the guests will never forget. 

The comedy styles employed in The Party are as old as the hills, but this just proves that they are the classics. The film’s laughs are achieved through the continual use of schadenfreude, awkwardness, predictability, and innocent mistakes. The simple mistake at the beginning still remains a very effective writing tool, paving the way for all sorts of comedic scenarios to follow. We saw the same thing employed in Brazil and the Coen brothers use it a few of their comedies, most notably The Big Lebowski and Burn After Reading. 

Like the Coen brothers’ comedy as well as Dr. Strangelove, perseverance is needed when watching this movie, but the awkward moments and then the randomness of the climax is all worth the wait. 

Peter Sellers delivers a memorable performance as Hrundi. He was well intentioned, innocent, reserved, and very funny. 

Starring Claude Longet, Marge Champon, Steve Franken, Fay McKenzie, and J. Edward McKinley, The Party was a very funny movie filled with schadenfreude, awkwardness, best intentions, bubbles, disasters, and memorable gags of every kind. I thoroughly enjoyed it.