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Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994)

Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994)
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Jennifer Jason Leigh offers an acclaimed performance as humorist Dorothy Parker, who together with such 1920s luminaries as Robert Benchley, Alexander Woollcott and George S. Kaufman, was a charter member of the legendary Algonquin Round Table. The story is related in flashback form, as Mrs. Parker, in Hollywood to cowrite the 1937 feature A Star is Born with her second husband Alan Campbell (Peter Gallagher), recalls her glory days as an Algonquinite. A great deal of attention is afforded Parker's vituperative bon mots, her alcoholism, her self-destructiveness, her suicide attempts, and her affairs with such literary contemporaries as Charles MacArthur (an uncharacteristically unsympathetic Matthew Broderick) and Robert E. Sherwood (Nick Cassavetes). The one person Parker truly seems to care about is humorist Robert Benchley (Campbell Scott), who prefers to keep their friendship platonic. Director Alan Rudolph attempts to convey the ambience of the 1920s by having dozens of that decade's luminaries appear in fleeting cameos, from Will Rogers (Keith Carradine) to Harpo Marx. Also featured in Mrs. Parker are Tom McGowan as the waspish Alexander Woollcott and Andrew McCarthy as Dorothy's near-invisible first husband, Eddie Parker. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Matthew Broderick, (more)
Director(s):
Alan Rudolph
Theatrical MPAA Rating:
R
Format(s):
DVD
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Synopsis of Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle

Jennifer Jason Leigh offers an acclaimed performance as humorist Dorothy Parker, who together with such 1920s luminaries as Robert Benchley, Alexander Woollcott and George S. Kaufman, was a charter member of the legendary Algonquin Round Table. The story is related in flashback form, as Mrs. Parker, in Hollywood to cowrite the 1937 feature A Star is Born with her second husband Alan Campbell (Peter Gallagher), recalls her glory days as an Algonquinite. A great deal of attention is afforded Parker's vituperative bon mots, her alcoholism, her self-destructiveness, her suicide attempts, and her affairs with such literary contemporaries as Charles MacArthur (an uncharacteristically unsympathetic Matthew Broderick) and Robert E. Sherwood (Nick Cassavetes). The one person Parker truly seems to care about is humorist Robert Benchley (Campbell Scott), who prefers to keep their friendship platonic. Director Alan Rudolph attempts to convey the ambience of the 1920s by having dozens of that decade's luminaries appear in fleeting cameos, from Will Rogers (Keith Carradine) to Harpo Marx. Also featured in Mrs. Parker are Tom McGowan as the waspish Alexander Woollcott and Andrew McCarthy as Dorothy's near-invisible first husband, Eddie Parker. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Theatrical Feature Running Time:
125 mins

Complete Cast of Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle


Director(s):
Alan Rudolph
Writer(s):
Randy Sue Coburn, Alan Rudolph
Producer(s):
Robert Altman
Theatrical MPAA Rating:
R(Adult Situations, Adult Language)
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle Awards:
  • 1994 - National Society of Film Critics - Best Actress
Warning:  This product is intended for mature audiences only. It may contain violence, sexual content, drug abuse and/or strong language. You must be 17 or older to purchase it. By ordering this item you are certifying that you are at least 17 years of age.

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    Sally N.

    WIthout any kind of pace nor interesting storyline, this movie follows Dorothy Parker's rather depressing life. Vignettes of her poem writing are cut into the film here and there, but they serve only to confuse things. I really think the filmmaker had an impossible task of making her life interesting. Actually, the special features are more interesting than the movie. The movie is filled with boring intellectuals, hell-bent on dying of alcoholism. Leigh does an admirable job, but less face it, she was just a boring, depressing, elitist, destructive person. A formidable writer, maybe, but boring in real life. A documentary would have been more interesting.

    Yes   |   No

     
    PAUL L S.

    I was very disappointed in this film. I think Dorothy Parker was a really intersting peerson, even if her life was a bit on the dark side. Her wit was unequalled in its day, and still stands the test of time, but most of the time, this wit was unintelligble. It was mumbled abominably, and most of the dialogue was undecipherable. I really regret that more could not have been made of the stories of a bunch of very interesting people!!

    Yes   |   No

     
    Sydelle S.

    I found Dorothy Parker's prtrayal boring and inaudible. Should have been an interesting story but it wasn't. I do not recommend it.

    Yes   |   No

     
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