Synopsis
Dorothy Parker remembers the heyday of the Algonquin Round Table, a circle of friends whose barbed wit, like hers, was fueled by alcohol and flirted with despair.
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Cast
- Jennifer Jason LeighDorothy Parker
- Campbell ScottRobert Benchley
- Matthew BroderickCharles MacArthur
- Peter GallagherAlan Campbell
- Jennifer BealsGertrude Benchley
- Andrew McCarthyEddie Parker
- Wallace ShawnHoratio Byrd
- Martha PlimptonJane Grant
- Sam RobardsHarold Ross
- Lili TaylorEdna Ferber
- 89
Austin Chronicle
Jennifer Jason Leigh's performance is so incredible that witnessing it is reason enough to take a look at this movie. - 88
Chicago Sun-Times
The great achievement of Alan Rudolph's Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle is that it allows us to empathize with Dorothy Parker on her long descent. - 88
ReelViews
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle is a top-notch movie. Everything is in place -- a striking lead performance, solid supporting players, a well-written script, and, above all, expert direction to merge the ingredients. - 80
The New York Times
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle has its flaws, but it also has a heartfelt grasp of what set Dorothy Parker apart from her fellow revelers and makes her so emblematic a figure even today. - 75
San Francisco Chronicle
Though many of Parker's well- known wisecracks make their way into the screenplay, Mrs. Parker ultimately does not give us the Dorothy Parker of legend. - 63
Christian Science Monitor
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle directed by Alan Rudolph, a wildly uneven filmmaker who's happily at the top of his form in this offbeat drama. - 58
Entertainment Weekly
For a while, the atmosphere seems just right. As Mrs. Parker goes on, it becomes apparent that the one-liners, droll as some of them are, aren't really going to coalesce into characters, scenes, dramatic encounters. - 50
Chicago Reader
Alan Rudolph's 1994 feature about writer Dorothy Parker and the famous Algonquin wits she hung out with in the 20s certainly has its pleasures, but someone should tell Rudolph that, for all his skill and charm, period movies aren't really his forte.