bonspy-07031
Joined Jul 2021
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bonspy-07031's rating
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
Dorothy Parker and her merry band of exceptional writers and wits at the vaunted Algonquin Round Table have been a favorite topic of mine since I was a very young Cherokee kid.
In what passes for my hometown, there was an Algonquin Hotel. For years I imagined those people were meeting there daily to discuss the current happenings.
Unfortunately that was not happening there at all.
Jennifer Jason Leigh deserved an Academy Award for her performance in this film. She brought Dorothy Parker back to life incredibly well. Playing someone as dynamic as Mrs. Parker required some sincerely difficult efforts. She was utterly believable in the role. Ms. Leigh further brought Dorothy to life when she broke the fourth wall to look directly into the camera spoke to us, the audience, and gave us all recitations of Dorothy. Those asides further enhanced her ability to channel Dorothy Parker. Again, I am sorry she didn't receive an Oscar for her work.
Moving on to Campbell Scott portraying Robert Benchley. Much like Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley sits firmly in my mind of astonishingly great wits of the 20th century, and Mr. Scott was seemingly made for this role. Robert Benchley must've been a great role for him, and his talents as an actor shone brightly. The timing of his quips was exceptional and the way that the friendship between Dorothy and Robert Benchley was portrayed appeared very naturally. I've read a number of books about the Algonquin Round Table and they all were in agreement that the relationship with Mrs. Parker was entirely above board, with no hanky panky at all. I'm glad the film treated their friendship so well without attempting to add some sort of innuendo to the proceedings.
Something I missed when I first saw the movie was the appearance of Will Rogers as portrayed by the superb Keith Carradine. I've not checked to see this, but my idea is that Mr. Carradine was playing in the Will Rogers Follies on Broadway at the time. Keith Carradine is an incredible talent and his portrayal of my Cherokee Cousin, Will Rogers, was lauded by critics and audiences alike. With those kinds of credentials no one else could've done what he did and his presence in this film as Will Rogers added to the overall impression of that time in our collective history. I seriously doubt any other actor could have played his role any better. Mr. Carradine was perfect!
My wife and I have discussed how great this film is to us. Initially, she wasn't sure what to expect when I pulled this movie up on Amazon. After about half an hour, she asked me to pause it. She asked me questions about what went on at the Algonquin Round Table when all of these people were still with us. And, since I had read quite a few books on the subject, Ibegan trying to find some way of describing what really happened there, long before either of us were alive. Because I'm a writer and have been a member of what was the Native American Journalists Association, or, as it's now known, the Indigenous Journalists Association, for about 30 years now. She wanted to understand why a Cherokee guy like me would want to study all of those white people. The only answer I had to offer was this; that era gave us some of the greatest American writers of all time. Names like Woolcott, Kauffman, Ferber, Sherwood, Harpo Marx, Broun, et al. Without listing all of the incredibly brilliant writers and wits that collection of talent is unprecedented and this film puts them all on camera in such a fantastic way.
If anyone has an interest in writers during this era, it would be very difficult to do it any better than it's done in this film. As far as I'm concerned this is a wonderful movie with an outstanding cast. It's written very well, which is rather fantastic. And, if anyone has even a passing interest in this era of American writers, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle will inform and entertain simultaneously. See the movie!
In what passes for my hometown, there was an Algonquin Hotel. For years I imagined those people were meeting there daily to discuss the current happenings.
Unfortunately that was not happening there at all.
Jennifer Jason Leigh deserved an Academy Award for her performance in this film. She brought Dorothy Parker back to life incredibly well. Playing someone as dynamic as Mrs. Parker required some sincerely difficult efforts. She was utterly believable in the role. Ms. Leigh further brought Dorothy to life when she broke the fourth wall to look directly into the camera spoke to us, the audience, and gave us all recitations of Dorothy. Those asides further enhanced her ability to channel Dorothy Parker. Again, I am sorry she didn't receive an Oscar for her work.
Moving on to Campbell Scott portraying Robert Benchley. Much like Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley sits firmly in my mind of astonishingly great wits of the 20th century, and Mr. Scott was seemingly made for this role. Robert Benchley must've been a great role for him, and his talents as an actor shone brightly. The timing of his quips was exceptional and the way that the friendship between Dorothy and Robert Benchley was portrayed appeared very naturally. I've read a number of books about the Algonquin Round Table and they all were in agreement that the relationship with Mrs. Parker was entirely above board, with no hanky panky at all. I'm glad the film treated their friendship so well without attempting to add some sort of innuendo to the proceedings.
Something I missed when I first saw the movie was the appearance of Will Rogers as portrayed by the superb Keith Carradine. I've not checked to see this, but my idea is that Mr. Carradine was playing in the Will Rogers Follies on Broadway at the time. Keith Carradine is an incredible talent and his portrayal of my Cherokee Cousin, Will Rogers, was lauded by critics and audiences alike. With those kinds of credentials no one else could've done what he did and his presence in this film as Will Rogers added to the overall impression of that time in our collective history. I seriously doubt any other actor could have played his role any better. Mr. Carradine was perfect!
My wife and I have discussed how great this film is to us. Initially, she wasn't sure what to expect when I pulled this movie up on Amazon. After about half an hour, she asked me to pause it. She asked me questions about what went on at the Algonquin Round Table when all of these people were still with us. And, since I had read quite a few books on the subject, Ibegan trying to find some way of describing what really happened there, long before either of us were alive. Because I'm a writer and have been a member of what was the Native American Journalists Association, or, as it's now known, the Indigenous Journalists Association, for about 30 years now. She wanted to understand why a Cherokee guy like me would want to study all of those white people. The only answer I had to offer was this; that era gave us some of the greatest American writers of all time. Names like Woolcott, Kauffman, Ferber, Sherwood, Harpo Marx, Broun, et al. Without listing all of the incredibly brilliant writers and wits that collection of talent is unprecedented and this film puts them all on camera in such a fantastic way.
If anyone has an interest in writers during this era, it would be very difficult to do it any better than it's done in this film. As far as I'm concerned this is a wonderful movie with an outstanding cast. It's written very well, which is rather fantastic. And, if anyone has even a passing interest in this era of American writers, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle will inform and entertain simultaneously. See the movie!
As a Cherokee born in the Appalachian Mountains on a small farm, I've been around horses before I could walk and have loved them ever since.
My wife and I have a small 60-acre horse farm in the middle of nowhere.
We both love horses and have been mucking stalls and taking care of them most of our lives.
Seeing this family doing fine work with their horses brings back memories of when we just a little boy younger.
At our ages now though the younger family members are doing the heavy lifting while we occupy an advisory role.
Those heavy lifters loved this film just as much as we do.
This is an excellent movie.
My wife and I have a small 60-acre horse farm in the middle of nowhere.
We both love horses and have been mucking stalls and taking care of them most of our lives.
Seeing this family doing fine work with their horses brings back memories of when we just a little boy younger.
At our ages now though the younger family members are doing the heavy lifting while we occupy an advisory role.
Those heavy lifters loved this film just as much as we do.
This is an excellent movie.
