Leigh and Cummings - the new writing/directing team to watch!

The collaborative efforts of Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cummings (who co-wrote and co-directed) pay off bigtime in this story that takes place on one day, unfolding slowly and with great polish. Not once does the film drop into predictability or over-wrought confessional, although there is drama and many layers to be peeled during the course of the anniversary party in question.

The characters are extremely well-written and brought to life brilliantly. All of them have extreme complexity of emotion and each is well-developed, with everyone getting the opportunity to reveal what's under the surface, beneath the facade. But it's not like one of those ensemble pieces where everyone gets to have 'his big scene.' This is more masterfully crafted than that; it has a genuinely organic quality that rings true throughout. By the end, I felt as if I had been in the house with them, been part of what had taken place.