Writer-director Jason Freeland’s little-seen 1998 debut Brown’s Requiem—based on a novel by L.A. Confidential author James Ellroy—earned a couple of film festival awards, suggesting that Freeland may have a bright future in this business.  Yet here it is ten years later, and he has just now released his follow-up… and unfortunately I must admit that this film isn’t going to get any play on the awards circuit.

The film takes place in Hollywood and echoes the best films of Robert Altman, following the stories of multiple characters whose lives may or may not intersect at some point during the film.  There’s Sammy, an aspiring musician who has come to Hollywood without any home, money, or even—heaven forbid—a cell phone, hoping to get his big break.  He winds up finding a place to stay with Nathan, a pushover assistant to a successful real estate agent who gets free room and board as long as he takes care of his boss’s marijuana plants.

Meanwhile, there’s an artist who has lost interest in his girlfriend and spends his days fantasizing about a woman whose nude picture he saw on the Internet, and whom he coincidentally bumps into one night when he rescues her from the freshly discarded gum she just stepped in.  Always looking to advance her career, she’s willing to fulfill his fantasies as long as he’s willing to take care of a little business for her in exchange.

Finally, there’s April, a young woman who has been abandoned by her mother and needs an escape from her creepy, perverted stepfather.  If she can make some money, she can move in with her cousin—and her friend just happens to know a guy who is willing to pay her for an hour of her time.  All she has to do is pose provocatively for some photographs.

There’s a few more spare characters thrown in, but those are the basics.  The main problem with Garden Party is that the plot just seems to be all over the map.  The key to seemingly unstructured Altman films like Nashville is that they really do have a structure.  Garden Party is filled with scenes that just don’t seem to fit with the rest of the plot, or seem like rushed plot devices.

For example, there are two characters that become unlikely friends, and their relationship inspires one of them to leave behind his joyless existence in California and begin life anew.  It’s a nice idea, but not very believable considering the very limited time these two spent together up to this point.  They have one extremely brief bonding moment and then—presto!—their lives are changed forever.

There is another character who has a moment in the middle of the film with an off-screen shrink; and though the script attempts to make this dramatic and affecting, neither the relationship with the shrink nor the extent of the character’s troubles are sufficiently developed (or even mentioned prior to this scene) to generate any heat.  The therapist never shows up again, either, making this scene feel even more out of place.

The poor script is not improved upon at all by the dull and inexperienced cast, many of whom seem to be channeling other actors—Keanu Reeves, Dane Cook, Ali Larter—rather than developing their characters using their own personas.  Only one supporting character actor breathes some life into the audience—with an over-the-top portrayal of a talent agent who has patterned his rapid-fire presentation after a Dane Cook comedy routine.  Unfortunately most of the laughs this film incites seem to be for all the wrong reasons, and were likely not what director Freeman was looking for.

Freeland seems to have high aspirations for this film, but it unfortunately fails to break free of its low-budget trappings.  It’s hard to recommend a film whose best feature is its poster.

Garden Party is unrated, but it would be certain to receive an R due to the language, sex, nudity, and drug use that is portrayed throughout the film.

Courtesy of a local publicist, Jeff attended a promotional screening of Garden Party.