A blue-chip cast shines in Duncan Ward’s “Boogie Woogie,” which tries, mostly successfully, to do for the London art world what “In the Loop” did for diplomacy — that is, send up its absurdities.
The title comes from the first in a series of paintings by Mondrian, long ago purchased from the artist by an aged, ailing collector (Christopher Lee).
Unknown to him, his wife (Joanna Lumley) and her slimy secretary (Simon McBurney) are plotting to sell this rare masterpiece and live off the proceeds.
To extract a maximum profit, they are seeking rival bids from a fast-talking art dealer (Danny Huston in his funniest performance ever) and his best customer, a collector (Stellan Skarsgard) who is planning on opening his own gallery.
The two men have such an intense rivalry that the collector lures away the dealer’s associate and lover (Heather Graham), unaware that the dealer in turn has been sleeping with the collector’s wife (Gillian Anderson).
There are plenty of other ruthless and ambitious characters, including a lesbian video artist (Jaime Winstone) who is documenting her love life, a hotshot painter (Jack Huston, Danny’s real-life nephew), and a cynical pal (Charlotte Rampling) who dispenses divorce advice to the collector’s wife.
More naive but not much less ambitious are a curator (Alan Cumming) and the dealer’s new assistant (Amanda Seyfried, who played Skarsgard’s possible daughter in “Mamma Mia!”).
“Boogie Woogie,” adapted by Danny Moynihan from his own novel (which was set in New York), goes over the top now and then, but overall it’s a lot of nasty fun.