Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994)

Director:

Alan Rudolph

Writers (WGA):

Alan Rudolph (written by) &
Randy Sue Coburn (written by)

Release Date:

23 November 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

At the center of the circle is a woman ahead of her time.

Plot:

Dorothy Parker remembers the heyday of the Algonquin Round Table, a circle of friends whose barbed wit...

Plot Keywords:

Alcohol | Algonquin Round Table | Jazz Age | Psychotherapy | Writing

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Dorothy Parker
Campbell Scott	...	Robert Benchley
Matthew Broderick	...	Charles MacArthur
Peter Gallagher	...	Alan Campbell
Jennifer Beals	...	Gertrude Benchley
Andrew McCarthy	...	Eddie Parker
Wallace Shawn	...	Horatio Byrd
Martha Plimpton	...	Jane Grant
Sam Robards	...	Harold Ross
Lili Taylor	...	Edna Ferber
James LeGros	...	Deems Taylor
Gwyneth Paltrow	...	Paula Hunt
Nick Cassavetes	...	Robert Sherwood
David Thornton	...	George S. Kaufman
Heather Graham	...	Mary Kennedy Taylor

Also Known As:

Mrs. Parker and the Round Table

Runtime:

126 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:14+ (Ontario) | Germany:12 | Australia:M | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Algonquin Hotel - 59 W. 44th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Fine Line Features

Trivia:

The founding of the "New Yorker" magazine is a subplot in this movie; Wallace Shawn's father, William, was, for many years, editor-in-chief of the "New Yorker."

Quotes:

Dorothy Parker: The sun's gone dim, the moon's turned black; for I loved him and he didn't love back.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Game-On: (#3.2)" (1998)

Dorothy Parker: read her, don't watch her

I am a fan of many of the writers who flit in and out of this movie, but I confess I don't know much about their personal lives and habits (except perhaps for Benchley, and Thurber who is only barely mentioned in this film). This film gives the viewer a good sense of what it must have been like to be part of the wildly creative crew that surrounded the legendary Algonquin Round Table, but a very confused picture of Dorothy Parker's life. Only someone who already knows her story, and can keep her various husbands and lovers in order, can piece this mish-mash together. And none of the performers are strong enough to seem like anything more than walk-ons dressed as famous people. (The "gang" scenes work because of the fast pacing; the movie drags when we spend time with the individuals.) According to comments recorded here, Miss Leigh is doing a good vocal impression of Dorothy Parker. Maybe so (I've never heard Parker), but Leigh's delivery is so totally annoying that it's enough to drive the AUDIENCE to suicide. Is she trying to do Hepburn on downers? Sometimes her mannered accent veers toward Transylvanian.

Throughout the movie, Parker herself denigrates her little "doodad" poems, but that's all the film offers us of her creative output. We never really find out about the contents of her books and plays, and how she ended up in Hollywood (and what she wrote there). After a few of her doggerel verses, they become trite. I began to wonder if people think these poems are funny because they know they're SUPPOSED to be funny.

I'm sure there's probably a good movie in Mrs. Parker's life, but I don't think this is it.