Wild Nights With Emily

The supporting cast excels, with Amy Seimetz, Brett Gelman, Jackie Monahan, and Kevin Seal making the most of the well-tuned dialogue.

There is a lot of truth to what we are seeing, but it is presented in a sly, deadpan way that is always amusing.

Don't be alarmed by the first 10 minutes of this film. Stick with it, because the wobbly tone and some amateurish acting warm up into something lovely and memorable.

The legend that she rarely left her house and was a spinster and recluse is recast in this ribald production.

"Wild Nights" goes too far at times, threatening to reduce the writer's life to the punchline of a literary version of Rodney Dangerfield: She got no respect.

It's respectful, but it's also alive. It's serious, but it's also tongue-in-cheek. Olnek's approach gives Emily room to breathe. At last.

The performances are superbly judged, as are the period trappings, but it's the mordant tone of Olnek's dialogue that makes this such an intellectual treat and a comic delight.

Molly Shannon is perfectly suited in this role finding depth and clarity in portraying a woman we only previously vaguely knew.

Wild Nights with Emily is crude and amateurish for the most part, and not amusing.

[T]here are just as many points when [Olnek's] script tries to cauterize its sadder moments with dry humor that, while successful on the page, feel sloppy.