Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Forgotten masterpiece with Jennifer Jason Leigh at her best, 12 Mar 2007
As with films like Grace Of My Heart and To Die For, what makes this worth watching is its magnetic central performance. In this case, it's Jennifer Jason Leigh as witty 1920s writer Dorothy Parker. The film follows her through her life of writing, alcoholism, torrid affairs, and soul-crushing disappointments, which is not nearly as depressing as it sounds. Director Alan Rudolph made another film, The Moderns, about this period in American life when words were valued more highly than they are in the TV- and cinema-dominated world of today, and this one makes for a great companion piece.
Leigh, an underappreciated actress, may be at her best here as Dorothy Parker. Parker is a complex character to play - a talented, charismatic, furiously intelligent woman who was also bitter, cynical, and held tightly to her pain even as it destroyed her from the inside - and Leigh captures every ounce of every trait. It's a stunning performance, filled with wit, exuberance, loneliness and self-loathing. Quite why Leigh didn't win an oscar for this film is a mystery to me.
Filling out the cast is a great list of supporting players. Campbell Scott is excellent as Mrs Parker's great unconsummated love Mr Benchley, Matthew Broderick and Andrew McCarthy are both good as two of the other men in her life, and you also get appearances by a virtual who's-who of indie drama types - Gwyneth Paltrow, Heather Graham, Lili Taylor, Peter Gallagher, Jennifer Beals, Wallace Shawn, and Martha Plimpton.
I can't help thinking that if this was a film about a man with a performance of equal value by Al Pacino or Russell Crowe, Mrs Parker would have been showered with awards. As with the aforementioned Grace Of My Heart, though, it seems to have fallen down the back of the cinematic sofa and been all but forgotten. That's a real tragedy, because this is an excellent film that anyone who loves beautifully crafted, well acted drama will enjoy.
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5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pure enjoyment, and a lovely performance by Leigh., 10 Oct 2001
By A Customer
What can I say? Jennifer Jason Leigh runs away with it. Before watching the film, I didn't know anything about Dorothy Parker, so watching when watching Leigh all I had to go on was her performance, and a fine performance it is. Her "Dorothy Voice" was rather annoying at the start but as the film developed it became rather nice to listen to! Quite soothing! Anyway, the film is nicely acted by all the cast and chugs along at a good pace. The b&w scenes of Parker reciting her poetry are welcome breaks in the story, but you do seem to think "What's the point?" But I liked those bits, who cares? As the film ended, I thought to myself "That's a pretty good film" but I really do not know why. Sometimes it's nice to enjoy a film without analysing the whole thing.
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