Benchley is Parker's emotional anchor--a straight-laced family man who negotiates between his creative career and the demands of his wife Gertrude (Jennifer Beals). They freelance together from a small office, aiding each other in procrastination. When he debuts his famous "Treasurer's Report" sketch in a revue, their careers begin to diverge. Against a backdrop of bathtub gin parties and raid-prone speakeasies, Parker's life is depicted as a series of failed romances. Her first husband, Eddie (Andrew McCarthy) returns from WWI military service hooked on morphine, and declines rapidly. She falls in love with married writer Charles MacArthur (Matthew Broderick), until she finds him in bed with actress Paula Hunt (Gwyneth Paltrow). After an abortion, she seeks solace in booze and isolation, eventually making the first of several suicide attempts.