Palindromes

Palindromes marks writer/director Todd Solondz first film since the notoriously troubled Storytelling, and if nothing else, it’s clear that the film has been made entirely without compromise. The movie tells the relatively simple story of Aviva, a young girl who runs away from home after being forced to have an abortion. Simple, that is, except for the fact that Aviva is played by different actresses throughout the film – including a large black woman and Jennifer Jason Leigh. With Palindromes, Solondz has returned to the territory of his first film, Welcome to the Dollhouse, in that it explores the trials and tribulations of adolescence from the perspective of a pre-teen heroine. The film is actually a sequel of sorts to Welcome to the Dollhouse, as it opens with the death of Heather Matarazzo’s Dawn Wiener – though Matarazzo doesn’t actually appear. Solondz imbues the film with his trademarked blacker-than-black humor (which actually seems even more twisted than usual, if that’s at all possible), and there are a lot of sharp and honest truths about growing up peppered throughout his screenplay. But all the positive aspects are undermined by the bizarre rotating-actresses gimmick, which makes it impossible for the viewer to ever connect with Aviva. And since there’s not much of a plot here, that’s certainly not a good thing. Still, the film isn’t bad – though it is a disappointment, particularly when compared to earlier Solondz efforts like Dollhouse and Happiness.

** out of ****