If you liked Alan Rudolph's "Choose Me", "Remember Me", "Trouble in Mind", "Afterglow" or "Welcome to L.A.", if you especially liked his movie "The Moderns", if you like film scores by Mark Isham, if you liked Robert Altman (who produced this film and a few others by Rudolph) and if you like Jennifer Jason Leigh (great, great, great, with no Oscar, while one or two other hags flaunt two), do not miss, if it ever comes your way, "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle", a fascinating cinematic biography of the even more fascinating writer Dorothy Parker, and her circle of critics and authors of the New York literary scene who were integral part of the "round table" of the Algonquin hotel in the city in the 1920s. A deluxe cast: Campbell Scott, Matthew Broderick, Andrew McCarthy, Jennifer Beals, Nick Cassavetes, Lily Taylor, Martha Plimpton, Wallace Shawn, Stephen Baldwin, James Le Gros, Rebecca Miller, Sam Robards, Gwyneth Paltrow, Peter Gallagher, Heather Graham, Stanley Tucci, Keith Carradine.. For those who love the literary world and writers of "brilliant pen", "sharp tongue" and smart repartee in debates, this is your motion picture. I rate it 10/10. Those who don't, it's up to them to raise objections. Beautiful film. Memorable performance by Leigh and, by the way, a very good one by Andrew McCarthy too, as Mr. Parker: considering his previous works (all pretty eyes and little substance), he truly made a good impression on me.

Dorothy Parker's life is so complicated that it really needs a 10 part mini-series. Basically, this movie focuses in on the relationship between Robert Benchley and Dorothy. If the movie had just focused on that, I think it would have been a hit. As it is, it is not very satisfying for many people, because of the enormous cast and the twenty or so subplots that do not get developed enough.However the photography is beautiful, the costumes and sets are terrifically faithful to the period, and the acting is sterling. I really want to knock on the door of every member of the Motion Picture Academy and when they come to the door punch them in the stomach and as they fall back in surprise, say, "That's for not giving an academy award to Jennifer Jason Leigh," for "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle." Her performance is daring and dazzling. She did win best actress from the National Society of Film Critics.Alan Rudolph says on the director's commentary that he has a 4 hour actor's version of the film. I really hope he will release it.This is a film that needs to be watched several times to be fully appreciated. Be prepared to do lots of research to find out more about the characters in real life. Watching a few Benchley movie shorts, seeing "A Star is Born, and reading a few short stories and poems by Dorothy is a prerequisite for enjoying the film.This is the best movie we are going to get on Dorothy Parker, until someone gives me 20 million Dollars to do the mini-series.

I think that this film was meant to be realist and naturalistic. However,there is the reality that this is an entertainment, and the audience has to hear and understand the lines. Supervigilance is required to do this in this movie. Not only does JJL's imitation of Dorothy Parker's speech affectations make the speech and musing of the main character difficult to understand, but the inclusion of background noise, overlapping dialog, and frequent muttering and mumbling of the performers make every character difficult to even hear, much less understand.Since so much of this movie is about legendary people mouthing famous aphorisms, it is frustrating to only hear snippets of their lines. I suppose the idea was to toss these famous lines away to add naturalism. However, without spotlighting the conversations of the legendary characters, however contrived this might be performed, this is just a very sad movie about a bitter, unhappy, self-destructive, unproductive writer. Not very easy to watch nor very interesting.

A couple of years ago, I visited Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in Manhattan, where several representatives from the Algonquin Circle were "meeting." It is absolutely remarkable how much the real Mrs. Parker resembled Jennifer Jason Lee, and Lee does a fine job in the role. The real stand out in this huge ensemble cast (which includes Matthew Broderick, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jennifer Beals) is Campbell Scott, simply remarkable as Robert Benchley. The movie itself is uneven. Early on, we see Parker and Benchley in Hollywood in the 1940s, where they are cordial at best, and then a flashback to Algonquin Circle days (the 1920s) begins. We naturally expect to find the root of the estrangement, as the entire construction screams that "something happened." But the movie doesn't deliver on its promise; we see a complex and tender relationship, but we never see what "happened" that would prevent them to continue in their fond dance of never-quite-romance. Despite its failure to provide a denouement, this relationship is the soul of the movie and very much worth seeing. Otherwise, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle barely rises above the typical tortured artist story. Mrs. Parker was brilliant but unfulfilled. Mrs. Parker drank and attempted suicide. Mrs. Parker recites her own poetry into the camera. Yadda yadda. By the end, Mrs. Parker totters and slurs to such an extent that one wonders if this can possibly be true, it seems a parody. My sense is of a script that veered away from its own fulfillment, and wanders around the outside. 7/10