Storytelling: Historias de ironía y perversión

Storytelling/Birthday Girl/Slackers/A Rumor of Angels/Ozamu Tezuka's Metropolis

What are the differences between the R-Rated and Unrated Version?

The "Non-fiction" story is the superior fiction.

Solondz's talent shows, but needs more closure

Some of the best writing you will ever see.

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Camryn Manheim, Jane Adams, and Dylan Baker in Happiness (1998)

It was confessional, yet dishonest. Jane pretends to be horrified by the sexuality that she in fact fetishizes. She subsumes herself to the myth of black male potency, but then doesn't follow through. She thinks she 'respects Afro-Americans,' she thinks they're 'cool,' 'exotic,' what a notch he 'd make in her belt, but, of course, it all comes down to mandingo cliché, and he calls her on it. In classic racist tradition she demonizes, then runs for cover. But then, how could she behave otherwise? She's just a spoiled suburban white girl with a Benneton rainbow complex. It's just my opinion, and what do I know... but I think it's a callow piece of writing.

John Goodman and Julie Hagerty in Storytelling (2001)

Paul Giamatti, Mike Schank, and Mark Webber in Storytelling (2001)

Selma Blair

Leo Fitzpatrick

Robert Wisdom

Todd Solondz

College and high school serve as the backdrop for two stories about dysfunction and personal turmoil.

Storytelling

Solondz&apos;s talent shows, but needs more closure

&quot;Storytelling&quot; is interesting, dramatically effective and well-acted.  It just left me wanting more.  Those who were heavily turned off by Solondz&apos;s last effort, &quot;Happiness,&quot; (a film I still regard as brilliant) might not be as turned off by &quot;Storytelling.&quot;  Other than an explicit anal sex scene (which is blocked off by a cheesy red box in the R-rated version), the material is quite innocuous.  But &quot;Happiness&quot; not only had a provocative edge; it also had closure.  It didn&apos;t leave any loose ends, having the audience wonder, &quot;What&apos;s next?&quot;  This movie has Solondz&apos;s provocative edge, but it needs closure.  

The characters and situations are colorful.  I&apos;ve always loved the director&apos;s use of brutal honesty in telling stories of otherwise straitlaced white collar suburbanites with skeletons in their closets.  His films possess a unique realism that we almost never see in today&apos;s movies. 

 Selma Blair gives her best performance up to date, her first character role. There&apos;s a greatly powerful scene in which she&apos;s taunted, by her fellow classmates, about her short story which was based on a true situation between her and her tough-as-nails professor.  John Goodman is terrific as the strict, suburban dad who simply wants his family to be normal.  Leo Fitzpatrick is great as Blair&apos;s lonely boyfriend with a speech impediment. After seeing him in that awful movie, &quot;Kids,&quot; it was great to see him in a decent role in a halfway decent movie.  I&apos;m guessing he really does have a speech impediment.  The little boy got annoying at times.  Though I know it was part of his character, there were times where I just wanted to put my foot through the TV when he would go on rambling.  And the underrated Paul Giamatti delivers a fine, low-key performance as a geeky documentary filmmaker.  

I wouldn&apos;t say this movie is anywhere near terrible, and I still look forward to Todd Solondz&apos;s next film, but it just needed more.  It would&apos;ve made a great television pilot, but for a film it would need a stronger narrative.  In the second story, &quot;Nonfiction,&quot; we get to know a fair deal about these characters, their backgrounds and their aftermaths.  However, in the first story, &quot;Fiction,&quot; I felt there could&apos;ve been a lot more background to the characters and what happened after Vi&apos;s dreams were crushed after her fellow students gave their hypocritical opinions on her short story?  As I said before, it&apos;s an interesting film, but not altogether satisfying. 

 My score:  6 (out of 10)

Home Video Trailer from New Line Home Entertainment

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZDZlYjVmZDUtNTU3ZS00NDAzLWE3MGItNWE3YjA0ZWQwMmFiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzU1NzE3NTg@._V1_.jpg

"Storytelling" is interesting, dramatically effective and well-acted.  It just left me wanting more.  Those who were heavily turned off by Solondz's last effort, "Happiness," (a film I still regard as brilliant) might not be as turned off by "Storytelling."  Other than an explicit anal sex scene (which is blocked off by a cheesy red box in the R-rated version), the material is quite innocuous.  But "Happiness" not only had a provocative edge; it also had closure.  It didn't leave any loose ends, having the audience wonder, "What's next?"  This movie has Solondz's provocative edge, but it needs closure.  

The characters and situations are colorful.  I've always loved the director's use of brutal honesty in telling stories of otherwise straitlaced white collar suburbanites with skeletons in their closets.  His films possess a unique realism that we almost never see in today's movies. 

 Selma Blair gives her best performance up to date, her first character role. There's a greatly powerful scene in which she's taunted, by her fellow classmates, about her short story which was based on a true situation between her and her tough-as-nails professor.  John Goodman is terrific as the strict, suburban dad who simply wants his family to be normal.  Leo Fitzpatrick is great as Blair's lonely boyfriend with a speech impediment. After seeing him in that awful movie, "Kids," it was great to see him in a decent role in a halfway decent movie.  I'm guessing he really does have a speech impediment.  The little boy got annoying at times.  Though I know it was part of his character, there were times where I just wanted to put my foot through the TV when he would go on rambling.  And the underrated Paul Giamatti delivers a fine, low-key performance as a geeky documentary filmmaker.  

I wouldn't say this movie is anywhere near terrible, and I still look forward to Todd Solondz's next film, but it just needed more.  It would've made a great television pilot, but for a film it would need a stronger narrative.  In the second story, "Nonfiction," we get to know a fair deal about these characters, their backgrounds and their aftermaths.  However, in the first story, "Fiction," I felt there could've been a lot more background to the characters and what happened after Vi's dreams were crushed after her fellow students gave their hypocritical opinions on her short story?  As I said before, it's an interesting film, but not altogether satisfying. 

 My score:  6 (out of 10)

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