MRS. PARKER AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE
A film review by Alex Fung
Copyright 1994 Alex Fung
Fineline Starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Matthew Broderick, Campbell Scott, Jennifer Beals, Peter Gallagher, Andrew McCarthy, Wallace Shawn, Martha Plimpton, Sam Robards, Lili Taylor, James LeGros, Gwyneth Paltrow, Heather Graham, Stephen Baldwin Written by Alan Rudolph and Randy Sue Coburn Produced by Robert Altman Directed by Alan Rudolph Rated AA [Adult Accompaniment] in Canada for brief nudity and coarse language
After opening exclusively in New York in late November 1994, the new Alan Rudolph film, MRS. PARKER AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE is beginning to get a wider, if somewhat restricted, distribution, and has opened here in Toronto during the Xmas weekend.
Filmed in Montreal, MRS. PARKER is a loosely biographical film dealing with the writer Dorothy Parker, who entertained America in the 1920s with her sharp tongue and witticisms, and her follies with what became known as the Algonquin Round Table, a group of friends and colleagues who would dine daily at the Algonquin in New York and trade verbal barbs and amused chatterings. This group would encompass some of the most influential figures on American culture of their time.
If you're looking for an upbeat feel-good comedy, this is likely a film you would want to stay away from. As Dorothy Parker's life is revealed through a series of flashbacks, swapping between her youth and her old age, it is revealed that behind her banter and sly wit lay sorrow, despair, self-consciousness and perpetual depression. We cringe in the audience as we watch Parker desperately enter futile relationship after relationship, thus perpetuating the cycle of her misery, and we morosely watch the elderly Parker, a shadow of her former self, react with regret and grief on actions unfulfilled and love unconsummated.
The young ensemble cast is very solid in MRS. PARKER in their limited roles, but the three major characters featured in the film are Dorothy Parker (Leigh), Robert Benchley (Scott), and Charles MacArthur (Broderick). Broderick is fine as one of Parker's loves, and Campbell Scott is outstanding in a potential break-out performance as Parker's confidant and soulmate--physically, in this film he mildly resembles a dapper Patrick Bergen--but by and large, this film is a vehicle for Jennifer Jason Leigh, who is in virtually every scene.
Much has been said in the press and the newsgroups about how Leigh's rendition of Parker's slurred, grating voice has rendered much of her dialogue incomprehensible, but honestly, I did not encounter this problem at all. It may be a function of the theatre speakers and background noise (i.e., viewers talking) that may compound the difficulty for some, but in general her words are understandable, if mildly challenging. In any case, her version sounds so true to the original that one must give her points for trying.
Dorothy Parker, as depicted in this film, is a well-suited entry in Leigh's catalog of downbeat, dark, and quirky characters, and while she is capable in the role, it is a mild disappointment that, save for the inflection, she did not stretch much further for it. Many of Leigh's own characteristic performance ticks can be seen in the film, but it may due to the character's lack of range in the screenplay that this becomes obvious. Nonetheless, Leigh will probably get serious Oscar consideration, since this is one of very few high-profile dominant female roles of the year, and her other work has been critically accepted.
MRS. PARKER suffers from some significant pacing problems and at times seems too choppy and uneven. The film lurches between the two timelines, and while what's depicted on-screen is done well, it only gives the audience a voyeuristic glance into scenes from Parker's life, and doesn't flesh out the characters sufficiently. The conclusion of the film seems to come rather abruptly, and some scenes in the movie tend to be a bit overlong in bringing their significance to point. The humour is a hit-and-miss affair; some points are roaringly funny, while other jabs provide nary a chuckle. The costumes (by John Hay) and production design (by Francois Seguin) are first rate, and the period score, though appropriate, is slightly overprominent and becomes grating at times.
Though the screenplay could have probably undergone a bit more revision, it is nonetheless very effective in its ultimate portrayal of Parker as a tragic figure. While those with no familiarity or interest in Dorothy Parker may be disenchanted, the combination of this unfortunate soul in American history with an excellent ensemble cast makes MRS. PARKER AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE a haunting little film. On my four-star scale, I give this a two-and-a-half.
Note: There is one scene that is shown after the credits have begun to roll, so one may want to remain for that scene to complete before leaving. Incidentally, Leigh's half-sister, Mina Badie, has a minor speaking part in this film.
-- Alex Fung (aw220@freenet.carleton.ca)
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