The People's "Party'

Hosted by actor Philip Seymour Hoffman and directed by Rebecca Chaiklin and Donovan Leitch (folksinger Donovan's son, an occasional model, and perhaps known only to me as the ruthless killer in 1989's Cutting Class), Last Party 2000 asks the most fundamental question about American politics: Why care? To answer that question, Hoffman and crew crash key moments in the 2000 presidential election, engaging celebrities and average joes in debate over welfare and legalization of marijuana, for instance, all the while trying to figure out What It All Means. Last Party 2000 makes an interesting companion piece to Alexander Pelosi's festival favorite Journeys With George, a documentary made by and made up of interviews with politically savvy insiders. Last Party 2000, on the other hand, is about being on the outside, about not knowing much about politics and maybe even not caring. Last Party 2000 doesn't argue against political cynicism -- they know and we know why we roll our eyes -- it just argues with people who think they can't do anything about it.

At the Tuesday afternoon SXSW screening, Chaiklin said Robert Downey Jr., who hosted the first Last Party during the 1992 election, was originally on board for this installment, which he wanted to focus on drug issues. But when his own became too much and the actor returned to jail, Chaiklin and Leitch traded in Downey's wacky persona for Hoffman's "everyman" appeal. Last Party 2000 was slotted to open in 10 markets on November 2, but the New York filmmakers -- still reeling from the September attacks -- decided to postpone the release, worrying that their documentary was "a too-scathing look at America at a time when people couldn't handle it," says Chaiklin. But as she sees the attacks used as an excuse to turn away from the darker and more disturbing questions in our society, Chaiklin says, "Ultimately, I think that [postponing the release] was a mistake." Now the filmmakers hope to get the film shown in high schools and on college campuses, anyplace they can find "young people who think politics is just boring."