Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, by Alan Rudolph

The last film in our Alan Rudolph festival had been sitting on my desk for almost a month. After the last four films we watched of his, three of which were fast-forwarded (see "Alan Rudolph festival" entry), we weren't looking forward to Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, a film that I remember watching in the theatres when it came out (1994). Back then, I thought it wasn't bad. Watching it this time, well, we didn't fast-forward, but we were glad when it was over. It started out well enough with interesting Altmanesque dialogue (as he is Altman's protegé) mishmashed over Jennifer Jason Leigh's acerbic portrayal of the bitter and wisecracking writer Dorothy Parker. She recites Parker's poems in little black and white asides throughout, sometimes sounding like Joe when he is doing his rendition of a Shakespearean actor (Oh brave new world, that hath such creatures in't!). But as she became more and more dreary, bitter, and depressed, we couldn't help wishing that the film would end. It was the same way with Sylvia (the Sylvia Plath biopic with Gwyneth Paltrow): I kept thinking, when is she gonna stick her head in the oven? Joe says, what a monster you are! Maybe I am, but really, we all know what's coming. We shouldn't want the end to come faster!