Movie #220........................."Palindromes"

Movie #220 "Palindromes" just finished off a rather odd evening for me, theatre/movie watching. It started with William Petersen in Beckett's "Endgame" at the Steppenwolf, followed by "Killer Joe" (with ohs theatre alum Somer Benon) at the Royal George that evening at 7 p.m. and then at the theatre another theatre alum Tiffany Topol mentioned how disturbing "Palindromes" was and asked if I had seen it (she likened it to the play). Not having seen it yet, I figured, why not, so I sat and watched it on my computer Sunday night. Can I say that Todd Solondz always makes an interesting film on subjects that would normally be unwatchable. Here's is yet another uncomfortable film with the main character being played by a whole bunch of actors of varying ages and races (I missed the boy) and talent in acting (many weren't quite there yet in their acting chops0 . I think in his attempt to make a deeper film, he cluttered the story with the number of actors, and made it difficult to watch and understand. It seemed to me to have an agenda (concerning abortion) , too, so it was pretty heavy handed in those scenes, and pretty melodramatic to the point of not being all that believable (Ellen Barkin, whom I have never been a fan of seemed way beyond believability in her scenes with her daughter) However, like I have felt with his other films (namely "Happiness" and "Welcome to the Dollhouse"), there's an audience for his movies ---- there's something about them that keeps you watching --- maybe the guts to tackle some of these hard issues?





Average rating: 2.885
I gave it 2 stars
Palindromes
(2005) NR
In this genre-bending indie from director Todd Solondz, 13-year-old Aviva Victor (played by eight actors of different ages, races and genders) desperately wants to become a mother -- and she comes very close to succeeding. Her sensible parents (Ellen Barkin and Richard Masur) intervene just in the nick of time. But Aviva is still determined to get pregnant, running away and losing herself in a strange new world.