After the red-carpeted hoopla of the Hollywood Film Festival's
opening night, Night Two is a bit of a return to Earth.
This eve the fest offers two simultaneous screenings at Hollywood's Arclight Cinema, a "Special Screening" of Charlize Theron's upcoming sexual harassment drama "North Country" and a "Centerpiece Premiere" of "Fierce People" an independent film directed by Griffin Dunne, described in the festival schedule as a story about a troubled young man and his troubled mother (played by Diane Lane) who take refuge one summer at the estate of the mother's rich friend (Donald Sutherland), where "things spiral out of control when both see that wealth and friendships come at a price."

Once again, even with glacial traffic on the 101, I arrived
embarrassingly early. I am reserved to attend "North Country," but
with time to kill, I watched the crowd checking into the two movies,
trying to gauge which screening is the truly red hot ticket of Night
Two. As I watch, hyper-watted festival director Carlos de Abreu swept across the Arclight lobby shouting into his cell phone at full
furnace blast, "Yes, I understand if Angelina says yes..." Studying
the entering crowds, I decide the "Fierce People" audience looks to
be slightly higher octane than the "North"erners and that in
screening lingo "Centerpiece" clearly must be superior to "Special"
and trade in my ticket.

Before the film, there is a pre-party in the little balcony bar
upstairs. Griffin Dunne and Diane Lane are greeting guests, posing
for pics taken by a trio of photographers. I'll say this for the
Hollywood Film Festival, while you don't exactly see celebs letting
their hair down like they were in their private hot tub, the events
do seem to give ticket holders pretty unusual proximity to our
national treasures.

While I stake out the circulating hors d'ouevres (little scoops of
mashed potatoes and steak on tortilla chips, breaded chicken skewers
and the inevitable but always welcome crabcakes), I chat with Joel
Michaely, actor and noted fixture at any Hollywood party worth its
name. Michaely, (who tells me he's been killed in three horror
movies in the past three months) is at his second party of the night, having just come from Jamie Pressley's fashion show at Smashbox. (He still has one more to go before he sleeps.) Asked if he is on the
Hollywood Film Festival circuit, he tells me he didn't make it to the screening last night, but did go to the after-party at Shane Black's
house, which lasted until 4 AM and included a late night pizza
delivery and "dancing, dancing, dancing."

Tonight, he says he is here to support "Fierce" distributor Lion's Gate who "really treat people like family." We part as Donald Sutherland sweeps in, managing as few others could to pull off a black wool blazer with a red sweater tied around his neck.

The screening commences an embarrasingly-close-to-on-time 15 minutes
late. Before it starts, event staff fuss hugely about the red Xeroxed "Reserved for Lions Gate" signs which have been taped to about a third of the theater seats and are ripped off by helpful attendants before members of the Lion's Gate family sit down. Once again, I will refrain from offering my unworthy review of the film. I will merely mention that a plot twist about mid-way through the film
veers us down a much darker path than the festive pre-party prepared
us for. I suspect while watching, that the festival's bon vivant
spirit might be a little tamped down post-screening, although the
folks across the way watching Charlize fight off unwanted attentions
are sure to come out ready to party.

After the film, a reporter moderates a Q&A session with Dunne,
Lane, three of the film's young stars and novelist Dirk Wittenborn
who wrote the script and the book upon which the film was based.
Donald Sutherland, for reasons unexplained, does not participate.
Dunne speaks likably about what drew him to the material ("I like
sons of f-ed up mothers") and the diffficulties of shooting on
minimal budget, explaining that one of the key scenes was actually
shot at two separate locations. Lane, who's participation we
are told, got the movie made, says she liked that the film was "multi-layered in terms of the tapestry it creates." She also uses the word "insouciance" which is enough to win me over. The three young stars mostly stare adorably at their feet like kids forced to eat at the adults table. Wittenborn says he was inspired to write the film by growing up a poor kid hanging out with rich kids. He also warns,
appropos of the film's theme, "The people who run America disseminate this fantasy that they are ineffectual but they are not. They are
very smart and tenacious." We stand warned.

Coming out of the theater, I run into my visiting-from-Winetka
friends from last night, the Britzes, who are coming out of "North
Country" just as a Presidential motorcade-sized security cordon
sweeps Charlize to the elevator. Once again, the Britzes reviews are extremely positive, all offering big thumbs up. "An amazing movie. Very nicely done," says Sharlene. Daughter Jolene, the lawyer, however, speaks out for her professional interest group and opines that the film skimped on its courtroom scenes. Robert also weighs in that, as a business owner, while he doesn't approve of the way Charlize was treated, he can understand the mens' fears about
losing their livelihood to female competetion.

They also report that Charlize was charming, a true star, during the Q&A. But she also apparently showed a human side, joking when her mike picked up some interference that it was her stomach growling. Jolene weighs in that she seems like someone "you could see yourself going to drinks with."

Before leaving, I chat with Carlos, the festival director, who's
enthusiasm for the event bubbles over. The mixing of people from
Hollywood with people from the outside world is what it's all about
he says: "To have Charlize in one room and these independent people
across the hall." He tells the story of Director Craig Brewer who
came to town years ago when a film he made was screened. "I got him
an attorney. I got him a manager." And that Craig Brewer went on to
sweep Sundance last year as director of "Hustle & Flow." I ask De
Abreu if he is planning to make much of a speech at the black tie
gala coming up on Monday but he shakes his head vehemently. "I hate
speeches. When I see these other people making them, I get so
tired. It's our guests night, not our night."