Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Brilliant and touching

A Brilliant Conflict

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Mary (Parker Posey) is a 23 year old party girl in NYC. She gets arrested for charging entry fees to her illegal party. She needs to ask her librarian godmother Judy Lindendorf for bail. When she's dismissed as being irresponsible like her mother, she takes a library clerk job. Her best friend Leo is trying to be a DJ. She falls for the falafel street vendor Mustafa. She doesn't even know the Dewey Decimal System but if they taught a monkey to do it, how hard could it be.Parker Posey is great. After her scene-stealing turn in Dazed and Confused, this was probably the next thing I saw her in. I love her. Interestingly, this also has an early Liev Schreiber performance. This indie has some fun unique lines but it's not that well shot. This needs a better director to bring out the quirky fun out of the screen.

This film is a delightful, light hearted look at both sides of where the "club kid" rave scene blends with the New York art, music and performance art worlds (with a cameo by the omnipresent Miss Bunny). This is "Torch Song Trilogy" for the perky-post-teen girls. "That Girl" for our disaffected, affected millennium times.The dialogue is fast and funny, and Parker Posey's costumer deserves - if not an academy award, at least - a stadium "wave" of kudos.Of course, this film rests on the very stylish platform heels of Miss Posey, and she is perfectly cast. Like a lot of her acting work, it may not be very deep, it is often self-referential and, well, posey... but it all WORKS. She is a talented comedienne, an incredible entertainer, and this film entertains, she carries it on her shoulders like a faux leopard wrap, and never lets it drop to the floor.Mary is a superficial party fashionista who isn't above stealing designer clothing from a friend's closet or making out with someone else's boyfriend. On a deeper level, this is a story of a girl and her friends who are care-less in every sense of the word, including about other people; and the process of learning that caring is necessary to life. The script is beautifully crafted, witty, and the only performance that disappoints is the Aunt, in a role that was much too one-dimensional and heavy handed; a more nuanced performance from her, would have deepened the relationship between the two... but... hey... this is comedy. A surprisingly deep role, that gives this film some substance and world vision, is the fallafel selling boyfriend. We should all be so lucky... is he the one for Mary? or the one that gets away? I rate this as a 8 because it isn't a great moment of film history, it is not a classic, and it is not great art (all of which get deeper and richer on re-viewing). Like "Desperately Seeking Susan" it represents something very true about it's time period, but may become irrelevant with time. Still, it has everything an entertaining film needs, and is worth viewing several times for the clothes alone!

Parker Posey gives new meaning the Dewey Decimal System. Embracing library life she shows that those who work in libraries are not all eye-glass wearing, bun in the hair, sensible shoe types. AND the sound track can't be beat. This one gets me dancing every single time! The story is sweet and fun. Posey is on target as a typical wild child avoiding work at all costs. Librarians around the world should have this movie in their personal collections for viewing anytime. A great pick me up! The stereotypes for librarians are out there - it is nice when mass media blows up those stereotypes (another place the stereotype was recently blasted was on the on the pages of BUST magazine in April 2004).

Party Girl's basically a movie about how your friend's superficial, mean-spirited, disenchanted mom got to be that way. It's a fun movie with good music that will have you saying "he-he-hellooo" for days. But it's also a sadly confused tale full of stupid decisions and wrong assumptions; bad ideas masquerading as big life lessons.Mary's a natural people-person and a reckless party girl. Her nightclub friends straddle that goofy fun and out-of-control divide as if written by someone in the know. She's tired of never having the rent though, and wants to grow up. She looks to her godmother for guidance: a terminally unhappy and out-of-shape woman who lives in stability as a librarian. The woman's an unpleasant toad who never learns jack, and yet she still somehow represents an ideal of responsibility and good life choices. Wacky.So Mary decides to toss her social skills, erase her personality, and pursue a career she cares nothing about. Hey, who needs event co-ordinators and creative directors when we can have librarians who don't read? It's hard work, but it pays off. She becomes an achiever. She even sets her sights on a certain hunky guy, and totally lands her man! Turns out they absolutely nothing in common, but it's Love. Of course she'll have to stay in line if she wants to keep him. There's some necessary turmoil around the corner.I'd like this movie if it was just a bunch of funny stuff, but it's not. I'd like it if it was a win some/loose some character examination, but it's not that either. It's really a movie where characters are supposed to grow and learn something; instead they just go after prizes. The nightlife setting pokes fun at itself in believable ways, but then falls through as a plot element because no superior lifestyle is presented. It might as well be an office story.