All of the performers are up for it, at turns witty and bright, clever and funny, tart and tragic. But special kudos must go to Leigh, who is quite touching as the tragic Parker, whose character goes through career disappointments, lovers who reject her, alcoholism, abortion, attempted suicide - but never without a tortured witticism. I do have one complaint about Leigh, however. While her technique is remarkable, her delivery is often mumbled. And whether this is how Parker really spoke is immaterial to an audience that might not be able to understand the dialogue. (A nod also to actor Scott as Benchley, who, though without the real Benchley's pudginess, has his character down pat - check out Benchley's performances in such old movies as Hitchcock's thriller "Foreign Correspondent" or the Hope-Crosby comedy "Road to Utopia.")

And that dialogue is most important. Rudolph and co-screenwriter Randy Sue Coburn have filled the film with smart, razor-sharp wit, which is straight from the real-life characters. And while the story may occasionally bog down in banality or cliche, the wit is top-notch and more than makes up for whatever faults the film may have.

At the forefront of all this, however, is Parker's sharp tongue, occasionally demonstrated in poems spoken directly into the camera and often in words released insensitively at the wrong moment - as when she enrages her first husband (Andrew McCarthy), an alcoholic and drug addict, by telling him, "You don't want to become the town drunk, Eddie - not in Manhattan." Or the dark poem that tumbles out when she is relentlessly coerced into "performing" at a posh social function:

Razors pain you, rivers are damp

Acids stain you and drugs cause cramp

Guns aren't lawful, nooses give

Gas smells awful; you might as well live.

"Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle" is rated R for violence (a suicide attempt and a slap from Parker's first husband), sex, nudity, profanity, vulgarity and drugs.