Garden Party

Los Angeles is a city of transplants, every person arriving with a dream that is eventually shown to be an illusion in the harsh light of city's reality. GARDEN PARTY weaves this theme beautifully with an ensemble cast of up-and-comers.

The film introduces each character as a classic archetype - the runaway teen, the frustrated artist, the demanding successful boss, the aspiring musician, the dead-end job dreamer - but the film then spends its time delving deep into the personalities behind these stereotypes, revealing them all as individuals as it entangles them in various plots that flirt with destruction but offer redemption. Along the way there is porn, pot, homelessness, backstabbing, tools from the entertainment industry, superficiality, revenge ... and love!

As a native Angeleno, what struck me most was how this film captures the mundane, day-to- day existence of Los Angeles with every hint of glamor and Utopian paradise removed from the stark cityscape. What GARDEN PARTY delivers is an accurate and memorable vision of the city of Angels being a landscape of personalities, each with a dream, some with a dark side and most with a sympathetic humanity underneath it all.

Garden Party tells us the story of several individuals, all of them living in L.A.We have a homeless boy musically gifted,a 15 year old girl raised by questionable parents,a young gay men only now figuring out who he is and what he wants in life and a sexy and successful real estate agent with a not so bright past who has a soft spot for losers. This are the main characters. Also part of the story are a rich pervert and a sleazy photographer. What do most of this characters have in common? A dream or a certain ambition but also lack of money...due to this fact they find themselves hanging out with the wrong crowd or doing things they never thought they would.Eventually their paths cross.I really enjoyed this film, maybe it was my fascination for L.A. or my appetite for Indies... I'm not sure but I thought it was great. Very original script and the acting was great,despite most of the cast being somewhat unknown.Willa Holland who's probably the best known actress in this cast gave a subtle performance but she is one to watch. The soundtrack was also very interesting. I loved the film, it felt incredible refreshing and I would definitely recommend this movie regardless of the low rating it has on this website.

7.5/10

I have a habit of liking movies with low production value due to their craptasticness.

There is nothing about this movie that is good except for the fact that it tries so hard with its worn out stereotypes and shoestring budget. The movie doesn't portray reality or LA at all. Yet, in all its cheesiness, I found myself smiling. The scenes with Ross Patterson as Joey Zane are really funny. He's trying so hard and it shows.

The movie itself goes nowhere and ends where it starts: without any crescendo or plot succession. I guess these people are older and perhaps wiser, but I doubt it.

I give this movie a 7 for its bad dialogue, tired portrayals of artists, and quotes like, "I don't go to school. I'm a musician." If you like cheese and have a couple minutes to waste, this may be the movie for you.

Well, it's my first comment here on IMDb, but since this movie only had two comments before mine, one of them rating it perfect and the other one below average, I thought mine would make sense.

First of, I really liked the semi slow-flowing pace this film had. It kept me entertained the whole way through, and I was excited to see what happened next.

Eash characters little story holds dilemmas, and situations we can understand and relate to. While the storyline isn't heading anywhere in particular, it takes you through a short period of time in the character's life. I like this style, and when this is done well, I find I don't long for a big climaxes, or an ending where everything comes together.

Sadly there is a lack of depth in the characters. The stereotype characters work very well, but we aren't allowed to look much further below the surface. The perspective is always from the outside as a spectator, which makes the few reactions and emotions seem pretty superficial and hollow.

This movie could have been much more! A bit more manuscript development, and it would have been up there.

So all in all: This is not a masterpiece, and not a movie I will remember, but a good hour and a half's entertainment well worth watching.

Here are some stories and you just observe them from start to finish without anything interesting happening. Surprisingly there are a lot of enjoyable bits somewhere between, but ultimately it's really not worth watching.