MOVIES . . . MRS. PARKER AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE

Thursday, Dec. 01, 1994
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Unless you're truly taken with the Algonquin set of the twenties, think twice before racing to catch this new film. It explores the much-romanticized life of New York writers who clustered at Manhattan's Algonquin Hotel. Nice idea, butTIME Movie Critic Richard Schickelcalls the development of the film's central character -- Dorothy Parker, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh -- "uninvolving." The director, Alan Rudolph, in his desire to charm the audience while also deconstructing his characters' lives, "creates not an intriguing thematic tension but merely confusion." Parker's character and its pathos "cannot sustain our sympathy, or our interest in this inept film," Schickel notes.Post your opinion on theArts & Culturebulletin board.