When the Party's Over

This medium depth examination of the lives and inter-relationships of a group of upwardly mobile young friends sharing a house will be of most interest to fans of Rae Dawn Chong and Sandra Bullock although the unattractive Alexander Midnight (played with flair and verve by Fisher Stevens) is by far the scene stealer and a very interesting and complex character.

A worth while watch with a timely message\moral.

In Los Angeles, the broker M. J. (Rae Dawn Chong) rents rooms at her house to the wannabe artist Amanda (Sandra Bullock); to the social worker Frankie (Elizabeth Berridge); and to the gay aspirant actor Banks (Kris Kamm). They are all in their twenty and something, and M. J. is a promiscuous and selfish woman that has problem with relationships. Frankie has been dating Taylor (Brian McNamara) for one year and is considering to marry him. However, she does not know that Taylor has cheated on her with M. J. Amanda's teenage brother Willie (Michael Landes) is every now and then with Amanda and her housemates. When Amanda meets the Zen artist Alexander Midnight (Fisher Stevens) in a party, they feel attraction for each other. Along the housemates' relationship, they discuss problems that happen with them, such as rape, smoking, sexuality and infidelity.

"When the Party's Over" is a type of movie very common in the 90's, with group of young people with twenty and something years facing difficulties in relationships, love and to start a professional career. I do not whether this type of film is dated in the present days, or I am too old, but I found it boring. Sandra Bullock in the beginning of her career wears awful costumes but her character is nice. Rae Dawn Chong's performance is great as usual and the cast performs well. The distribution of this film in Brazil was made by minor companies. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Quando a Festa Acabar" ("When the Party's Over") Title on VHS: "E Quando a Festa Acabou..." ("And When the Party Was Over...)

When the Party's Over tries to capture that early-'90s twentysomething disillusionment, but it never quite finds its footing. You've got a house full of roommates, each dealing with their own mess - emotional baggage, career burnout, romantic dysfunction. There's definitely some potential in that setup, but the writing leans more soap than substance.

The cast does what they can, and there are a few grounded moments where you can feel the film reaching for something real. But the whole thing feels more like a made-for-TV drama than a meaningful look at post-college malaise. It wants to say something about growing up and facing reality, but mostly it just meanders through tired tropes.

There's a kernel of an honest story buried somewhere in here, but it's drowned out by melodrama and some clunky dialogue. Not the worst way to spend 90 minutes, but you're not missing much if you skip it.

I don't like movies about relationships, so I didn't like this one. The main reason for watching this movie was Sandra Bullock. But she's not seen much. If you expect to see Sandra Bullock in an R movie, keep in mind, there are some sexual scenes, but absolutely no nudity.

I didn't come out of watching this movie very satisfied. Nor did I feel I wasted time. It was an interesting few hours spent looking into the lives of these characters. They were not well-developed, or necessarily consistent. Personally, I think the story would have been better off starting where the movie ended. There were late night chats that seemed to be thrown in for effect, but did not necessarily have continuity with the day's events. All-in-all, if you're a fan of Sandra Bullock or Fischer Stevens and like seeing actors early in their careers (or in some cases, the height) it's a relaxing, non-challenging way to spend time. Worth a watch if nothing else on and you don't want to clean the house or think too hard.