Blood sisters

The voice is most effective when Leigh is the elderly Parker, attending awards functions drunk, letting her pet spaniel eat from her plate, snapping guttural one-liners at the audience and the press. All the advertising hype that insists Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle "turns the legend into a woman" is hooey, because Alan Rudolph and Jennifer Jason Leigh are enough in touch with their own excesses to know a fitting tribute to Dorothy Parker is one that burnishes her reputation as a beautiful loser.

Nell. A 20th Century Fox/Egg Pictures film with Jodie Foster, Liam Neeson, Natasha Richardson. Written by William Nicholson and Mark Handley. Directed by Michael Apted. Opens Dec 25.

Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle. A Fine Line Features film with Jennifer Jason Leigh, Campbell Scott, Matthew Broderick. Written by Alan Rudolph and Randy Sue Coburn. Directed by Alan Rudolph. Opens Dec 25.