In Sally Potter’s fun and funny romp The Party, Patricia Clarkson steals the show with her performance as April — a character full of brains, sheer sexiness and brilliant indifference. Janet (Kristin Scott Thomas) is hosting an intimate gathering of friends in her London home to celebrate her political ascension, while her husband, Bill (Timothy Spall), seems preoccupied. Janet’s acerbic best friend, April, arrives and others follow, some with their own dramatic news to share, but an announcement by Bill provokes a series of revelations that gradually unravel the sophisticated soiree, and a night that began with champagne may end badly in this dark comedy of sex, class and politics.