Adapted from a play by David Williamson, DON'S PARTY stars John Hargreaves as Don Henderson, a schoolteacher living with his wife, Kath (Jeanie Drynan), in a suburb of Sydney in 1969. Out of boredom, he invites a small group of friends to celebrate the election returns, much to the dismay of his... [More]

Adapted from a play by David Williamson, DON'S PARTY stars John Hargreaves as Don Henderson, a schoolteacher living with his wife, Kath (Jeanie Drynan), in a suburb of Sydney in 1969. Out of boredom, he invites a small group of friends to celebrate the election returns, much to the dismay of his wife. As the party wears on, it becomes clear that the Labour party candidate who is the choice of Don and most of the guests has no chance to win. As a result the drinking goes up a few notches, and the humorous "cracking-on" between Don and his male friends about their failed aspirations gets uglier, as does their behavior toward the women. Mack (Graham Kennedy), a design engineer whose wife has just left him, pulls out a nude photo of her for his friends' approval. Cooley (Harold Hopkins), whose professed passions are "shaving, sh**ing, and shagging," but apparently not in that order, pursues the available women. Meanwhile, the disillusioned wives exchange tales of their husbands' subpar sexual performance. By the end of the night, Don and some of his friends have begun to grasp the emptiness of their compromised lives. Director Bruce Beresford gets fine performances out of his excellent cast in this classic Australian comedy of disenchantment. [Less]