From what I have read of and about Dorothy Parker, she was a paradoxically sad person. A woman that seemed to long for true love but seemed to keep everyone at a safe distance. She seemed to use her cutting wit and great appetite for booze, as a defence against any possible close personal relationship with her friends and peers. The only men in her life were equally committed to keeping their distance and control. This movie captured those feelings and relationships with great acuity. Jennifer Jason Leigh was superb as Dorothy. In fact, all of the actors were fantastic. This film isn't for the crowd that, throng to the next Lethal Weapon sequel in ever growing numbers. Those of you that look for movies with intelligence and style will be greatly rewarded.

I think that this film was meant to be realist and naturalistic. However,there is the reality that this is an entertainment, and the audience has to hear and understand the lines. Supervigilance is required to do this in this movie. Not only does JJL's imitation of Dorothy Parker's speech affectations make the speech and musing of the main character difficult to understand, but the inclusion of background noise, overlapping dialog, and frequent muttering and mumbling of the performers make every character difficult to even hear, much less understand.

Since so much of this movie is about legendary people mouthing famous aphorisms, it is frustrating to only hear snippets of their lines. I suppose the idea was to toss these famous lines away to add naturalism. However, without spotlighting the conversations of the legendary characters, however contrived this might be performed, this is just a very sad movie about a bitter, unhappy, self-destructive, unproductive writer. Not very easy to watch nor very interesting.

Dorothy Parker (Jennifer Jason Leigh) recalls the 20's at the Algonquin Round Table. She's a writer at Vanity Fair. Her husband Eddie (Andrew McCarthy) had returned from the war as a morphine addict. She loses her job and Robert Benchley (Campbell Scott) quits in sympathy. They and Robert Sherwood would lunch at the Algonquin Hotel gathering a circle of friends with endless drinking, sharp comments, and biting wits. Eddie turns into an abusive drunk. She has an affair with Charles MacArthur (Matthew Broderick) which leads to an abortion. The group starts up The New Yorker. Later, she remarries to actor Alan Campbell (Peter Gallagher).

I have nothing but praise for Jennifer Jason Leigh. I understand most of her words and all of her meanings. However, it is a lot of drunk talking. There are loads of biting comments but none of them really elicits a laugh. These are not those types of vicious lines. "I don't review rehearsals." Most of the movie lands flat with a knowing wink. She lived a full life but I'm not that excited by this movie.