Storytelling

Rating:
Summary: A movie that never flinches
Review: Todd Solondz's funny and controversial films examine sordid suburbia. They are witty, satirical stories but also unflinching in their use of controversial subjects like rape, pedophilia and other "uncomfortable" subjects that most mainstream films would never have the nerve to address, much less use in a comedic context. So, you either love his films or hate them (as the other reviews here will attest.) I happen to love his films.

It might be best to watch his previous film, "Happiness", before watching "Storytelling" as "Storytelling" seems (to me) to be the film maker's personal response to the criticisms that his other films have elicited. "Storytelling" is composed of two, separate stories titled "Fiction" and "Non Fiction". "Non Fiction" features a documentary film maker (clearly representing Solondz)who's a downtrodden geek, accused of exploiting his subjects.

His films make you laugh but also uncomfortable about laughing. I think he's an exciting voice in American cinema, far removed from the formulated drek that's cranked out by the studios. Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: American Liars
Review: Todd Solondz' is a self-indulgent filmmaker. He has absolutely no ego, and is able to depict his (or is it just 'a') misanthropic view of human nature that is more visceral and intoxicating than anything you'll see in the cinema. I always enjoy his films, even though I have to watch them through the cracks between my fingers.

"Storytelling" is most definitely a Todd Solondz movie. It's loaded with winceworthy moments and wretched characters who don't know that they are wretched. It's a geek fetishist's voyeuristic nirvana for it allows you behind doors and into rooms that any sane person would keep hidden from view. But it's a less successful movie than Solondz' previous efforts ("Welcome to the Dollhouse" and "Happiness"; Solondz sure has a knack for benign titles that hide suburban nightmares), because it's unique narrative concept just doesn't work.

For those in the dark, "Storytelling" is divided into two unequal halves. "Fiction", the 20-minute first half, follows the exploits of Vi, a writing class student with a cerebral palsied boyfriend and a poor self-image. "NonFiction" shows the attempts of an amateurish documentary filmmaker named Toby Oxman, who intends to portray the contemporary American high school experience through the eyes of a greasy slacker named Scooby (!) Livingstone. In the former, fiction becomes nonfiction (Vi writes a story about a brutal sexual encounter, and is vilified for its racism in front of her class), while in the latter nonfiction becomes fiction (Oxman, in a vain attempt at commercialism, manipulates the Livingstone family's pain for the sake of comedy). In one of the movie's great ironic twists, Solondz casts Mike Schank as the documentarian's cameraman. Schank last appeared on screen as the laconic and dim buddy of Mark Borchardt, the subject of the 1999 documentary "American Movie". The subject becomes the objectifier, although in both cases he is horribly ineffectual.

This all sounds well and good. But the problem is that there is no relationship, other than a vague thematic one, between the movie's two halves. Many of the people leaving the theatre after the screening I saw bemoaned this lack of cohesion. If Solondz had presented a series of vignettes (maybe four or five) along the same lines, the film would have worked. But presenting the two halves as opposites, as he does quite explicitly through the use of title cards and the colour coding of the opening credit sequence, he is forcing the audience to expect connectedness. By not giving it to us, he is just being manipulative (and lazy) for art's sake. Which, in my opinion, diffuses much of the message.

That being said, Solondz directing style is effective in moments. He certainly knows that if you light and frame a scene in a conventional manner, as a sitcom or an insipid family drama might, then the perverse dialogue will hit with a greater impact. Watch how he handles the relationship between Mikey Livingstone, Scooby's precocious youngest brother, and Consuelo, the family's maid. Mikey is just trying to figure out why his maid, who he sees as having a pretty cushy life, is constantly unhappy. Consuelo, to her credit, takes Mikey's barbs with patience. Until, of course, she is pushed too far. Jonathan Osser, while amateurish, is all sweetness and light as the devilish Mikey. Lupe Ontiveros, who always seems to play the tormented maid character, shows why she's been typecast.

The rest of the cast are all fairly good. Standouts include Paul Giamatti, a Solondz look alike, as Toby. He manages superiority through his inherent inferiority, and is terribly funny. John Goodman, as the Livingstone patriarch, dominates the screen (as Goodman usually does) as a father unwilling to make waves, lest he lose his comfortable home and family. Mark Webber, who plays Scooby, gets the boy's sluggishness just right, not to mention his ignorance. In the "Fiction" segment, Selma Blair is the only one worth watching. She plays Vi with punkish aplomb, intense vulnerability, and obvious damage.

One side note: I wish Solondz had beefed up the parts of Franka Potente, as Toby's film editor, and Conan O'Brien, who displays fine acting chops as late night talk show host Conan O'Brien!

In the end, "Storytelling" is enjoyable, often funny (assuming you find the idea of someone's domineering parents being burned at the stake in a ridiculous dream sequence), visceral, and harsh. It doesn't reach the heights that Solondz' previous work does, but that's not for lack of aiming high. It just misses its target.

Rating:
Summary: Stories Worth Telling!
Review: "Storytelling" is not one film, but two. They are both different, but very related. The first story is called "Fiction" and it stars Selma Blair, Leo Fitzpatrick, and Robert Wisdom. Selma Blair stars as Vi, a collage student who is taking a writing course with her boyfriend Marcus, who has celebral palsy. The class is taught by Pulitzer-Prize winning author Gary Scott. When Marcus's story is comments badly by Gary, he becomes nervous that Vi is interested in Gary when she does not stand up to him during the class. They break up, but when Vi goes to a bar she meets Gary, and she learns something about him, and her life is changed.

The second and longer story is called "Nonfiction" and it stars Paul Giamatti, who already amazed me this year with "American Splendor" and he gives another great preformance as Tobey Oxford, a documentary filmmaker who is doing a documentary about high school students, and how it is hard to get into the collage of your choice. He finds his focus in Scooby Livingston, who is a student who does not want to go to collage, and is a slacker who has no idea what he wants to do in the future. That makes his parents, Marty and Fern, ticked off at him, and also their middle child Brady to the suspection that he is gay. Their youngest son Mike, is ten years old, and is complety spoiled, and also interested in their live in maid Consuelo's life and family history. As Tobey shoots the documentary, the family deals with problems that arise, untill finally "Nonfiction" and the movie comes to a surprising and bitter end.

The end of "Nonfiction" surprised me. I did not see anything like that coming. It also made me think that I should have seen it coming. I was decieved. What I liked about the movie was how the two stories were related to each other. They were both about high school life, and the problems that teenagers face. They were also totally unrelated, because they both focus on the different types of storytelling. The documentary being the nonfiction. The short stories being the fiction. I thought that "Storytelling" was a very funny, and very brilliant film. It was short and sweet. I liked the scene where Mike spills some juice, finds the maid crying about how one of her family members has been excuted for rape and murder, and then kindly asks her to clean it up for it. It is a character study, because it shows how spoiled this family is, and how they have everything done for them. Throughout the film, except for Mike, they don't even notice that she is around.

"Storytelling" deals with another major subject of racism, so it is not for everyone. In "Fiction" Gary Scott's character is black, and in Vi's final story, with a black character like him in it, everybody in the class has a comment to say about how it is a black man. I feel that this shows how just because something happens to somebody else, and a black man is the cause of it, it is racism. It's a sad, but true fact. "Storytelling" was a great movie, and it is not a film for everybody, but those with an open mind will enjoy it.

ENJOY!

Rated R for strong sexual content, language and some drug use.

Rating:
Summary: He's an acquired taste but I love his films.
Review: Todd Solodnz is not everyone's cup of tea. To enjoy his films, one must have a jet-black sense of humor and be comfortable with having your buttons pushed. He's definitely an acquired taste, but I love his movies. And, this one is no exception. It reminded me of Woody Allen's "Deconstructing Harry" in that it seems to be Solondz's response to his crticis. Indeed, it's a good film, but it's even better if you've already seen his other films ("Welcome to the Dollhouse," "Fear, Anxiety, & Depression," and "Happiness"). Solodnz dwells on subjects that most people would rather pretend don't exist (oh, but they do, they do). He makes you squirm and think and usually laugh at what you're seeing even though you may feel guilty about it afterwards. But, that's the point of a Todd Solondz film - anyone seeking lighthearted escapist fare will run screaming from the exits. But, for those who can "take it" and appreciate something different and intelligent, there are many rewards to be found. "Storytelling" may be a tad weaker than "Welcome" & "Happiness" (though miles above "Fear"), but it still succeeds wonderfully. I can't get this film out of my mind. It's essentially an examination of where the line between valid art and exploitation lies, of where the search for truth ends and a carnival geek show begins. And, it's a doozy. The MPAA objected to one particular scene in the first segment, "Fiction," causing Solondz to obscure the offending image with a bright, incongruous red rectangle rather than cut it (the scene in question is integral to the story). Now, that one can see the scene uncensored on this DVD, it provides even more proof that the MPAA is out of control (the scene is really no more explicit than anything to be found in, say, "Original Sin"). It's really the ideals and concepts Todd examines which make the MPAA uncomfortable, but all they can do is attack scenes with nudity and clearly simulated sex. Ridiculous, really. Some may find the subject matter and sense of humor repugnant, but this is one of the better films I've seen recently.

Rating:
Summary: "Mandingo" and "Reality TV"
Review: Although this third film by Todd Solondz is not as good as "Welcome To The Dollhouse" or "Happiness", it still smacks of satirical cynicism. Inexplicably split into two films ('Fiction', 'Non-fiction'), we are first presented with a twenty minute film about community college level 'writing', in which, a young woman has a confrontational and sexual sparring with the black, 'mandingo' teacher. It's all meant to be a comment on hypocritical racists in education. It culminates in an outrageous sex encounter that is literally 'blocked' by a large red rectangle (taboo emphasis). It's moderately entertaining.

The second part of the film is more complex. Without exposing too much of the plot, it involves (as "Happiness" did) classism, racism, sexism, oh hell, any 'ism' you could imagine. But it works. It is simply a story of an upper middle class American family with the 2.5 kids and the proper suburban parents with a perfect son, the 'imperfect' son and the 'baby'. Kudos to John Goodman and Julie Haggerdy for participating in this movie. They bring life and legitimacy to their roles. Solondz filmed this well before "reality TV" was popular, and that is the premise. While the imperfect son is being secretly filmed for a documentary, the family struggles through it's own unusually tragic existence (the youngest of the three sons is the 'Brady Bunch brat' we always thought we wanted to see as evil). Needless to say, Solondz produces many shocks and surprises along the way. The trip is wildly entertaining, but the finale may leave the viewer distraught. Not that the story is poorly conceived or arranged, but simply that the ending is horribly, terribly depressing. It still good enough to recommend. I consider that a rare accomplishment for any film-maker.

Rating:
Summary: worst movie ever
Review: This is honestly the worst movie I've ever seen. I can't imagine how anyone could possibly have enjoyed it. I hated everything about it.

Rating:
Summary: one of the best I've seen
Review: I have always liked Todd Solondz and this is no exception. Storytelling involves two unrelated plots, told in 2 discrete parts of the movie. The first and shorter part shows a college student (Selma Blair) cheating on her disabled boyfriend with their rather perverted writing professor. She retells the event in a short story in class, which her classmates rip apart.

The second and longer part involves Toby, a documentary filmmaker, selecting Scooby, a high school student and the oldest of 3 brothers, as his subject for his latest and only work. Scooby hails from a dysfunctional family headed by John Goodman, and he doesn't want to go to college or do much of anything for that matter. His brother Brady is school-oriented in that he plays football, and their youngest brother Mikey is in the 5th grade, simultaneously smart and clueless, as depicted in his conversations with Consuelo, their El Salvadoran maid. Toby follows Scooby around and films his every move, and gets to know the whole family as it goes through tragedy.

This is not a feel-good movie, but it will hold your attention and make you think if tragedy possibly could have been averted in such an everyday life.

Rating:
Summary: Light in April
Review: Thanks for refreshing drama. The first half (all that I have watched so far) seems a portrayal of a young women's (Vi's) daring and traumatic moves into life, a snap shot of courage amongst transformed corpses, monsters and dwarfs of innocence. She is left with a frustrating knowledge that teachers, bystanders and friends live with passionate motives clocked in the delusions and defenses of her time. We are left with a wish and a hope she, like Finnegan, will find "yes."

Rating:
Summary: Selma Blair = Reason To Watch This Movie
Review: Selma Blair is hot as hell. This movie really utilizes that aspect of her acting reptoire.

Rating:
Summary: Reality Bites
Review: After the acclaimed and controversial "Happiness", Todd Solondz produced another acid and depressing vision of today`s America. Forget "American Beauty", since "Storytelling" goes further down the spiral. The movie contains two distinct segments, the first, "Fiction", and the second, "Non-Fiction". In the first, a writing student gets involved with her teacher and that experience will determine her vision of the world and her writing process, leading to a complex, tense discussion. In "Non-Fiction", Solondz makes an insight into the "typical" american family, presenting some dysfunctional characters who struggle to somehow survive in a bitter, convulted world. The director also reflects on the effects of the showbiz industry and its relevance in a society full of lonely and depressed individuals. Sarcasm and irony are a constant here, used to maximum effect to describe the growing process of a young slacker who tries to find something worth caring about but ends up failing again and again.
Although it`s not perfect, "Storytelling" is nonetheless a powerful movie that gives much food for thought and again shows the strenght of one of the most original voices of american indie cinema. Very good but not for everyone.