Alicia I love this movie so much

Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Mort & Spunky the awesome cat Straight away, I'll disclose that I'm fascinated by politics and my views are probably to the left of most Nader voters, yet I've given over 5% of my income to the Democratic Party, Democratic candidates and pressure groups traditionally allied with the Democratic Party in recent years.This documentary takes the same cynical view of American politics most people use as an excuse to not involve themselves in the democratic process: Republicans and Democrats are the same. I think that this has been refuted by past five years--and it was simplistic and naive, at best, to think so before then. We get side-tracked by tactics of the LA and Philadelphia police departments, which would be good grounds for a POV documentary on PBS, and a number of other dead-end subtopics. Then, we get to see a few things C-SPAN and the networks failed to show, like the shadow convention--one of the reasons I give this a low average rating, rather than a poor rating.What this documentary and so many others fail to disclose is that we do live in a multi-party democracy within a two party system. The different factions within the Democratic and Republican Parties essentially give us the same choices one sees in the advanced multi-party democracies of Europe and elsewhere. We get to vote in primaries, they don't. Very briefly, Hoffman allows Barney Frank (always wise, witty and worthy of one's attention) to tell it like it is: Those on the left have abandoned the Democratic Party, if not the democratic process entirely, allowing it all to drift to the right. Simply put, most of those on the far right vote Republican. Most of those on the left don't vote, or waste their votes on people like Nader. Hence, Republicans win, Democrats lose. Unfortunately, Congressman Frank's wisdom (two minutes?) is almost wasted among the garbage here. I don't mean to split hairs here, but Rep. Frank was incorrectly identified with (R-MA) rather than (D-MA). Evidence of careless fact-checking? A thoughtful discussion with William Baldwin was the only other redeeming factor here. Unfortunately it was edited out, presumably because his was a progressive voice somewhat favoring the Democratic Party. It's among the extras on the DVD. Interestingly, among the predictions asserted by those being interviewed in this film, his are most eerily true.All in all, I would praise this if it were an effort by high school students. However this was done by people who should know better. Hopefully now they do.

rolinmoe The prior reviewer of THE PARTY'S OVER takes issue with the editor's choice not to cut the Republican and Democratic conventions in a parallel, us versus them fashion. That's fine and dandy, except that was not the intent of the film.Documentary is an odd beast that few people understand. The uproar behind Michael Moore's BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE came in part because Moore *gasp* didn't specifically edit in sequence; sometimes his reactions to the words weren't the reactions given as the subject spoke. "They are lies!" the Right chanted, assuming the use of B roll caused Moore's film moot. Forget that everything Charlton Heston says on camera is, in fact, what Charlton Heston said to Michael Moore.Frederick Wiseman, the grandpappy of cinema verite, would be the first person to tell you that documentary film is not the Truth in the way that ye olde traditional audience would expect it. How can it be? Someone chooses to film specific subjects, use specific music, edit in a specific fashion because it begets the theme of the film. This doesn't make documentary a faux relayer of society; it makes it more real than the simulacrum we inhibit, because the filmmaker chooses not to let society dictate her parameters.I'm not saying THE PARTY'S OVER (its name through FILM MOVEMENT) is a great film; expecting the Green Party to fill the role of protagonist is a large hope to pin, and this is coming from a Green supporter. What the film does do well is document what happened, showing us things we didn't see on the news -- protests in Philiadelphia, questionable police brutality, the shutting down of protests that were zoned for a longer period of time, and the lack of substantial difference between the Republican and Democratic parties.The best lines come from the politicians themselves -- Barney Frank, Christopher Shays, Henry Ford, and Gary Johnson all make great points about the inefficiencies of the system they inhabit, and they come at it from different sides of the aisle (who knew Frank was a Republican?). At the same time, turgid yes men like Newt Gingrich, Tim Hutchinson, and John Kerry come off as nothing more than arms of the establishment. If you expect a beginning, middle, and end to this film, you'll be disappointed. If you want to see a part of history you didn't get from Tom Brokaw, it's good viewing. Unfortunately, your political views will color how you perceive this film, as the number of 10 and 1 ratings here do show.

caspian1978 An interesting look at both political parties in America, The Party's Over is a movie about just that. A look into the 2000 election for President and how corrupt and misguiding both political parties are and how the youth of today has been programmed to become consumers. Although the movie did not have a large budget to use, the film scores big with its audience. Sad but true, the Party's Over captures what is happening in Washington DC and in the White House. The addition of having celebrity interviews, a segment on Ralph Nadar's involvement with the 2000 election and the hidden corruption behind the Bush and Gore administration makes the documentary a delight, no matter what political party you belong to.

jesscw81 I don't think that there could have been a better choice than Philip Seymour Hoffman for this film. He is without a doubt the most unbiased person involved in the entire production. The rest of the film is well done and presents a very interesting take on the state of politics in the country today. Toward the end, however, the liberal bias which was kept in check for the first three quarters of the film became extremely apparent. The portrayal of the election aftermath is predictably one-sided and undermines the objectivity of the film, and in turn the argument it makes calling for a change in politics.