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
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