66
Metascore
21 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 89Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAustin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenJennifer Jason Leigh's performance is so incredible that witnessing it is reason enough to take a look at this movie.
- 88Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe great achievement of Alan Rudolph's Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle is that it allows us to empathize with Dorothy Parker on her long descent.
- 88ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliMrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle is a top-notch movie. Everything is in place -- a striking lead performance, solid supporting players, a well-written script, and, above all, expert direction to merge the ingredients.
- 80The New York TimesJanet MaslinThe New York TimesJanet MaslinMrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle has its flaws, but it also has a heartfelt grasp of what set Dorothy Parker apart from her fellow revelers and makes her so emblematic a figure even today.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSan Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleThough many of Parker's well- known wisecracks make their way into the screenplay, Mrs. Parker ultimately does not give us the Dorothy Parker of legend.
- 63Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittMrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle directed by Alan Rudolph, a wildly uneven filmmaker who's happily at the top of his form in this offbeat drama.
- 58Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanFor a while, the atmosphere seems just right. As Mrs. Parker goes on, it becomes apparent that the one-liners, droll as some of them are, aren't really going to coalesce into characters, scenes, dramatic encounters.
- 50Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumAlan Rudolph's 1994 feature about writer Dorothy Parker and the famous Algonquin wits she hung out with in the 20s certainly has its pleasures, but someone should tell Rudolph that, for all his skill and charm, period movies aren't really his forte.
- 40EmpireEmpireMuch like Parker’s career, the film begins with scintillating flashes of what might have been, but slowly deteriorates into waspish repetition.
- 38Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversThe film wants to make a case for Parker as the first modern woman. It gets the look and the attitude right, but it can't find her heart.