'IT'S MY PARTY' TAKES THOUGHTFUL LOOK AT SUICIDE OF AIDS VICTIMS.

Byline: Amy Dawes Daily News Staff Writer

"It's my party, and I'll die if I want to," jokes Eric Roberts, playing Nick Stark, who's in the remarkably original position of presiding over his own wake - and making sure everybody has a damn good time at it.

Informed by his doctor that he has only days to live before his brain collapses and leaves him about as active as a rutabaga, the AIDS-afflicted Nick decides to end his life as he has lived it - with grace and joie de vivre.

He plans a two-day house party, at the end of which he'll swallow some pills and bid his loved ones a final good night.

That controversial approach is at the heart of what makes "It's My Party" interesting - we've seen movies involving discrimination, family reconciliation, grief and acceptance linked to the tragedy of AIDS.

But this story also depicts a group of people - Nick and his friends - who've decided amongst themselves that it's fine to take these matters into their own hands. That, along with this movie's buoyant humor and stinging wit, gives it an audacity and resilience that commands attention.

Based on the true story of a similar party thrown by a friend of writer-director Randal Kleiser ("Grease," "The Blue Lagoon"), the movie also comes out on the heels of the recent federal appeals court decision supporting doctor-assisted suicide.

That makes for an interesting climate in which to consider the character's actions. Not only does almost everyone in Nick's circle support his decision, but they're used to it - in an early scene, he and his friends have to step in with a pillow to help another dying friend finish off a botched attempt.

That brisk matter-of-factness, grounded in humor, pretty much sums up the movie's approach to death - Nick's going to get it over with, and free himself up to spend his final days focusing on life.

A successful L.A. architect and a bon vivant - a person who lives well, dresses well and eats well - he has some unfinished business with a longtime lover, Brandon (Gregory Harrison), with whom things ended badly after Nick's illness made his partner go cold.

The movie's emotional suspense, such as it is, consists of Brandon's arrival at the party - to considerable hostility from Nick's more loyal friends - and the issue of whether they'll reconcile.

Roberts is terrific as Nick - mischievous, sensitive, emotionally flexible - and he conveys a peaceful resolve and sense of personal control that helps keep everyone else on an even keel. Harrison has a tougher role as the repressed, dullish-seeming Brandon. Apparently it's an attraction of opposites, but it doesn't give us much to root for.

The kind of project that gets made for personal rather than commercial reasons, "It's My Party" attracted a number of actor friends of Kleiser's (including his "Grease" star, Olivia Newton-John), as well as people who contacted the filmmakers because they wanted to be involved. It really feels like a party, as we weave among familiar faces like Bruce Davison, Marlee Matlin, Lee Grant as Nick's understanding mother and George Segal as his clueless, alcoholic father. Bronson Pinchot, in a hilariously flamboyant turn, and Margaret Cho, as a sympathetic friend, dispense well-timed zingers throughout.

Shot on a minimal budget in 25 days, the movie at first seems hasty, soapy, patched-together and contrived, but it soon begins to deepen and connect as the party gets under way.

More than a moving catharsis for those who've lost loved ones to AIDS, "It's My Party" is food for thought in a changing, challenging time.

It's unlikely that anyone close to death leaves as beautiful and unblemished a corpse - or displays as unflagging a sense of humor - as Roberts' character, but it's a movie, and we, too, can exit smiling.

THE FACTS

The film: "It's My Party" (R; adult humor, homosexual kiss).

The stars: Eric Roberts, Gregory Harrison, Lee Grant, Paul Regina, Bronson Pinchot, Margaret Cho.

Behind the scenes: Written and directed by Randal Kleiser. Produced by Kleiser and Joel Thurm. Released by MGM/UA.

Running time: One hour, 50 minutes.

Playing: Selected theaters.

Our rating: Three stars

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PHOTO

Photo AIDS sufferer Nick Stark (Eric Roberts) poses with his sister Daphne (Marlee Matlin) and mother Amalia (Lee Grant) in "It's My Party," a film about Stark's wish to bring his life to a close with a party for friends and supporters.