|  DJ: For this swingin' edition of "Spoiler Warning," Dustin and I are going to chat up a flick neither of us had previously seen. See, Dustin was all, "You pick this time, bitch. And don't pick shit like you always do!" So, in a panic, I asked this co-worker pal o’ mine named Brendan. He's a movie aficionado and all that. And from deep within the recesses of his filmic mind, he suggested--
Dustin: Pretty woman?
DJ: No! That was what just what you’ve been begging us to review since we started this damn column! Stop fronting and admit your love for watching prostitutes with a heart of gold go shopping! He suggested The Party, a 1968 comedy directed by Blake Edwards and starring Inspector Clouseau himself, Peter Sellers.
Dustin: Right, but we ended up doing Pretty Woman...
DJ: Uh... dude, I didn't get that memo. I just rented and sat through The Party yesterday. Don't play me like this, Dustin! Please... don't.
Dustin: Wait, so why the hell did I just watch Pretty Woman?!?
DJ: Because you own it and LOVE it. You get all weepy when he climbs that fire escape and... Shit. I just outed myself.
Dustin: Okay, give a me a second to regroup... Yes. I liked it so much, I almost peed my pants.
DJ: Are we still talking about Pretty Woman? And when did you start wearing pants?
Dustin: I'm talking about The Party now.
DJ: Oh... onto The Party finally. Okay. Gotcha.
Dustin: Right, so this is a "classic" Peter Sellers movie, right? One in which Hector Elizondo is nowhere to be seen.
DJ: No, but Gavin MacLeod makes an appearance. Hmm... Ebert and Roeper never get this off subject… Are you as drunk as I am, by the way?
Dustin: Possibly. So, would you care to explain to the readers exactly what in the name of Shiva's many arms is supposed to be going on in this movie?
DJ: Say, that's not a bad idea...
Dustin: Because frankly, I was astounded--nay, flabbergasted--at how much material they got out of one small premise.
DJ: Well, hmmm... yes. Okay, The Party features Peter Sellers as a character a cracker-ass Limey would never be able to play nowadays-- an Indian named Hrundi V. Bakshi. Seems Hrundi is a kinda dense wannabe movie actor who's just blown (up) his latest role. When the director tries to get his movie mogul producer to make sure Hrundi never works in this town again, said mogul writes Hrundi's name down lest he forget. As shenanigans would have it, he unwittingly writes it down on his wife's invite list for her swingin' Hollywood party! So now simple, sweet Hrundi, instead of being blacklisted, gets invited to the most happening happening and he... goes to the party. That's the whole plot. Hijinks naturally ensue.
Dustin: That's the shortest plot we've ever had to recap. And yet the movie was... an hour and thirty-some minutes.
DJ: And, as per usual, I used a lot of words to say very little.
Dustin: Halfway though, I was sitting there asking out loud "where are they going to go with this?"
DJ: And the answer is... "Uh... nowhere, really. Just a series of lil' gags and some half-assed Hrundi meets a chick plot." But who cares? This flick ain't about plot. It's about the SWINGING 60's! And Peter Sellers in face paint with a really good Indian accent.
Dustin: Yes, if anything, this is just another shining example of how Peter Sellers really could play damn near anyone. I've honestly not seen a lot of his work (although I did recently watch the HBO film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers), but I am wholly convinced after viewing this that the legend absolutely must be accurate.
DJ: I vaguely remember watching one or two of his Pink Panther flicks when I was a kid and being confused that there wasn't a cartoon pink panther running around the whole time. That's about it. That and the fact that I heard Tommy Chong on this radio show called "Jonesy's Juke Box" talk about how much Sellers loved the weed. But here, I was very impressed that his Hrundi, while a comedic character, is actually a swell guy, and not a complete stereotype. I mean, mostly, but it didn't seem to me to be insulting. Which was a relief.
Dustin: Exactly! There wasn't a single thing that Sellers did that played Hrundi in a derogatory light. Slightly inept, sure, but it wasn't even a "dumb" inept (as one might find in the earlier works of the great Adam Sandler), but it's really more sweet than anything.
DJ: It was kind of refreshing. Now, let's chat up the film itself more. You mentioned that it almost made you pee your pants?
Dustin: No, I actually said I liked it more than The Pirates of Penzance.
DJ: Stop with the damn Pretty Woman talk! Man, I didn't know you were such an expert... or that I was, for that matter. Creepy. Focus on The Party!
Dustin: There were a couple of times, mostly shtick-related, that I was guffawing out loud. And frankly, I was almost surprised that I was doing that. This isn't he kind of humor that I usually "laugh out loud" to--but some of the physical comedy was just so stellar, and combined with this whole screwball "out of nowhere" thing, I was laughing more out of surprise.
 DJ: There were a couple of moments that gave me a chuckle, mostly the random things like him sitting at the table on that short stool and buttering his hand (my favorite), but, overall, I was shocked about how this flick is about nothing. I mean-- no arc. Nothing. This script wouldn't get made today! It's kind of amazing to me.
Dustin: Right--and one of the notes I had here to bring up was to see if you agreed that there is no way on heaven or earth that a film like this gets made today.
DJ: Clearly it was, " Peter Sellers? Blake Edwards? Well, okay, then. Let's make this picture!" Did it bother you that there was NO story. None. At all. Just a funny lil' Hindu guy at a big Hollywood party?
Dustin: The unrest I was feeling over there not being any foundation beyond the single plot point vanished about halfway though. It's almost like I entered some kind of zone where it didn't matter, and I was ready for whatever the movie was going to throw at me next. And oddly enough, I would actually make the point that as bare bones as this flick was in terms of substantive ideas, it still ends up being a hell of a lot smarter than anything of the modern cinematic era, and it certainly contrasts the considerable talent of Sellers against what we've got today. How many current Hollywood stars could essentially take a movie about nothing and carry it on their backs?
DJ: Jim Carrey on a good, less hammy day comes to mind (maybe), but he's too manic. Sellers was funny without being annoying. Yeah. I don't think there's a comedic actor like him today.
Dustin: I mean, sure there were some other funny bits among the supporting cast (particularly the constantly-drunk waiter), but it was pretty much only Sellers that did anything for the film.
DJ: Drunk waiter was my second favorite character in the flick.
Dustin: And I think that a lot of the brilliance of Sellers in this was that he did such an amazing job of not making it seem like it WAS about him? You follow?
DJ: I guess he wasn't a ham hogging the spotlight from others, if that's what you mean.
Dustin: With Jim Carrey, it's a very bombastic kind of physical comedy... with Sellers here, it's all very subtle and at times, almost understated.
DJ: Definitely understated. A lot of the scenes are just of him being wacky, but it's not like "Look at meeee!" And when other characters, like the wait staff, have lil' shenanigans, he steps aside. It's kind of nice. It's a very polite, British kind of random humor throughout. And it's so '60s!
Dustin: Yes, the whole thing does feel VERY '60s.... and since it was 1968, I suppose that makes a great deal of sense. So although it feels very period, at the same time, it does have kind of a timeless feel to it. You could make exactly the same movie with the same cast in present day, and it would be the same movie for all intents and purposes, I feel. The only difference now, is probably that studio execs would ruin it if it was made in present day.
DJ: But music and parties aren't as laid back hip and happenin' anymore. Rock and techno music don't groove like that Henry Mancini score. It's just got a more genteel, polyester, green carpet feeling that doesn't exist today.
Dustin: That's an interesting point--I think that to a certain extent, the "Hollywood" that this movie portrayed was a lot less superficial. The people in this movie seem to actually want to have substantive relationships with each other at this dinner party.
 DJ: Well, at least Hrundi and Michele, an aspiring French actress / love interest played by Claudine Longet. Everyone else, though? I didn't get that feeling... And Hrundi and Michele seem to have a kinda tacked on thing. It's okay, but not really anything I was emotionally invested in.
Dustin: Right... well, it think it was Blake Edwards' answer to "well, we need some reason for the audience to pull for Hrundi." But I think the real reason the audience will relate to Hrundi is that we can all identify with the social anxiety that would come with being in his white leather shoes. He came to this party knowing not a soul, and he's trying very hard to fit in. I think that's something a lot of people can identify with on some level.
DJ: I loved his little awkward attempts to join into conversations, even if he put his foot in his mouth a lot. I don't have that kind of courage at parties. He's kind of heroic in that way.
Dustin: It's not something we'd really see adeptly drawn out in a film until 1990, when we see a young hooker played by Julia Roberts attempt to fit into High Society. The parallels are deep, my friend.
DJ: How the hell did you tie it all back to “The Whore Goes Shopping”? Wow… So, you really enjoyed The Party, huh?
Dustin: I did indeed. It encouraged me to seek out further works of Peter Sellers. Aside from his appearance on The Muppet Show, which I already have on DVD.
DJ: I want to see more Sellers now, too. I found myself kind of making fun of The Party, though, as is my close minded, frightened nature. Mostly how drawn out the gags could be, how thin the non-existent plot was, BUT there is a bubbly, feeling-good vibe to it that I really appreciate. I've been thinking about it since first watching it, actually, and I'm becoming more and more fond of the silly little thing.
Dustin: Sometimes, it's just good to sit down and eat some sugar. Or in your case, sugar with a side of one-dozen burritos.
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