Welcome to the Dollhouse

Welcome to the Dollhouse details the trials and tribulations of awkward middle-schooler Dawn Wiener (Heather Matarazzo), with the episodic narrative following Dawn as she must contend with a verbally abusive bully (Brendan Sexton III’s Brandon), an apathetic mother (Angela Pietropinto) and father (Bill Buell), and an older, hunky crush (Eric Mabius’ Steve). It’s clear immediately that Welcome to the Dollhouse marks a substantial (and obvious) improvement over filmmaker Todd Solondz’s underwhelming debut, Fear Anxiety and Depression, as the movie boasts as vivid and compelling a protagonist as one could envision in the guise of Matarazzo’s Dawn Wiener – with the character’s intensely sympathetic nature heightened by Matarazzo’s stellar performance. There is, as such, little doubt that the film succeeds mostly on the basis of Matarazzo’s top-notch work here, with Solondz’s decidedly episodic sensibilities paving the way for a narrative that’s somewhat hit and miss (although it’s more the former than the latter). Solondz’s infamous penchant for shock ultimately can’t diminish what is, for the most part, a absorbing coming-of-age story, as the storyline boasts a number of trenchant observations about young adulthood and high school life to which most viewers will relate. The superb supporting cast goes a long way towards perpetuating the consistently watchable atmosphere, and it’s clear, in the end, that Welcome to the Dollhouse, erratically paced as it may be, stands as a rather impressive effort from a director whose output is rather uneven (to put it mildly).

*** out of ****