As a movie about abortion this is a disappointment. The actions are so overstated, the drama so overacted that we cannot take the debate very serious here. Far superior is Payne's Citizen Ruth and Palindromes seems to borrow at least part of the storyline (portraying the family that's a little bit too much God-loving/fearing or the left-wing pro-choicers that don't leave any choice open). Because Aviva in Palindromes wants to have a baby at a very young age she's pro-choice seems to be the message here.
But that's not the interesting part about this movie. One character played by many actresses is a rather novel idea. Solondz lets us experience how we project our own prejudices upon a character and we are confused by it. A funny scene soon is thrown back in our face by the director and that's exactly the effect he's aiming at. In Storytelling he experimented with how far he could take humor before becoming a little bit too painful for the audience. (On a more ferocious scale this game is played in C'est arrivé près de chez vous / Man bites dog).
Unfortunately, it's too much bits and pieces, too incoherent to even come close to his last two movies. Still some very funny lines and well written.
But that's not the interesting part about this movie. One character played by many actresses is a rather novel idea. Solondz lets us experience how we project our own prejudices upon a character and we are confused by it. A funny scene soon is thrown back in our face by the director and that's exactly the effect he's aiming at. In Storytelling he experimented with how far he could take humor before becoming a little bit too painful for the audience. (On a more ferocious scale this game is played in C'est arrivé près de chez vous / Man bites dog).
Unfortunately, it's too much bits and pieces, too incoherent to even come close to his last two movies. Still some very funny lines and well written.