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12 Rounds Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Storytelling
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MPAA RATING: R for strong sexual content, language and some drug use
Starring Selma Blair, Paul Giamatti, Leo Fitzpatrick, John Goodman, and Julie Hagerty
Storytelling is comprised of two separate stories set against the sadly comical terrain of college and high school, past and present. Following the paths of its young hopeful/troubled characters, it explores the issues of sex, race, celebrity and exploitation. (Fine Line Features)
| GENRE(S): | Drama |
| WRITTEN BY: | Todd Solondz |
| DIRECTED BY: | Todd Solondz |
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: July 16, 2002 Video: July 16, 2002 Theatrical: January 25, 2002 |
| RUNNING TIME: | 87 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: | USA |
Official Selection, New York Film Festival; Official Selection, Cannes International Film Festival
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The average user rating for this movie is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 14 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
David C. gave it a7:
The relationship between the "fiction" and "nonfiction" ends up being far more interesting than the stories themselves, which are plagued by caricature and stagey directing. All of this belies the fact that this is an entertaining, provocative film. The second half of "nonfiction" is impressive in the way that it brings both the film and the audience into self-referential territory. Whether you found the humour amusing (as I did) or mean-spirited is a matter of taste.
Steve G. gave it an8:
I usually hate it when people say "If you didn't like it, it's because you didn't understand it." But I can't help but think that myself when I read many of the reviews of Storytelling (or any Solondz film, really). They cast it off as a mean-spirited 'black comedy', and that Solondz has contempt for the characters he's created. However I can't help but notice that the only people who are actually judging the characters in that light are these critics themselves. (He even has Giamatti say he "loves these people". Maybe it should have been Solondz himself on-screen.) Solondz, knowing this tendency of his critics, directly confronts them in the scene where "American Scooby" is being screened. They are laughing at the main character, completely rejecting his worth as a human being, and basking in their superiority. But even with this scene in the film, the critics still just don't 'get it'. It's as if they can only understand films where the narrative is completely spelled out for them, with low-dimensional characters, and ham-fisted sentimentality (ala American Beauty). In effect, Solondz gets the last laugh, with these critics doing nothing but proving his point.
Chad S. gave it an 8:
In "Fiction", Todd Solondz walks a fine line between being racist, and being racist to portray racism in a convincing matter. [***SPOILERS***] Vi(Selma Blair) isn't being racist when she says, "**** me hard, ******", because Mr. Scott (Robert Wisdom) is the one who's fulfilling that role. Vi's forced to utter the slur to justify the instructor's rape fantasies. He hates his white female students. But it looks like consensual sex, yet Vi describes the experience as rape to her creative writing class. In the bathroom on the night in question, she tells herself, "Don't be a racist," in which, I think, she presumes that sex with a black man is automatically rape. "Fiction" will make you squirm, and squirm some more. The squirming doesn't stop with "Non-Fiction". What's not commonly reported is that Solondz's treatment of a Hispanic character might be even more rigorous than his African-American author. Consuelos (Lupe Ontiveros), a maid, is humiliated, and then she acts on it. But like the first story, both sides are racist. Less demonstrative than Mr. Scott's pelvic thrusts, and Vi's cry of wolf, Lupe causes more damage, as Solondz has us perversely cheering for the death of a priveleged, but neglected child. "Storytelling" moves into majestic territory when Solondz turns on himself, and even more so, his audience.
Tonight With Gilbert Mulroneycakes gave it an 8:
Hmm. Now this is very odd indeed. What to make of it, I do not know. Okay, first, I'm here to tell you that the critics over here in Britain weren't divided - they all hated it. And wanted it to die. Which...is fair enough because there's a lot to hate right here. Solondz hits a lot of audience-buttons very hard, and your enjoyment of the film will pretty much correspond to how you respond to the button-hitting. However - and this is just me talking, I'm still not sure what Solondz was trying to do exactly - I don't think he's deliberately courting controversy per se. Look at the "offensive" things he uses. Disability. Racism. Homosexuality. Jewishness. The Holocaust. And of course he gives middle-class suburbia a kicking as well. But I'm thinking that this isn't supposed to shock exactly, because...look at the list, it's like a how-to checklist. These are almost clichés. I reckon that Storytelling's playing with a sort of bleak post-modernism (screams, whinnying) - he knows this is obvious shock-material, and expects the audience to know it as well - and to be aware of his previous film. It's all part of the critique of himself that forms the thematic core of the movie. But that's all my opinion, and what do I know? Storytelling's been called cruel, and in some ways it is (THAT scene between Selma Blair and Robert Wisdom), but Solondz doesn't seem to hate his characters. His Giamatti alter-ego says he loves them, and he probably does. He puts them through some bad stuff, though, and again, I think you're supposed to notice - and listen to the lyrics of the great Belle and Sebastian title song over the credits. This is a movie to watch more than once in order to really grasp what it's for, and where all the pieces go. Even then, you might hate it. I'm finding it hard to rate as it is - because it's got so many cinematic layers, because it's so different from most movies out there, it's kind of hard to slap an arbitrary number onto it. Also, the rating might be compromised by how many of your buttons Solondz successfully presses. But I can't give it not without buggering up the Metascore, so I'll give it 8, because I sort of admire, or appreciate it...ish. A bit. I think. Assuming I know what he's doing, and there's the rub - most reviews of Storytelling I've read discuss the film in terms of their own theories or ideas of what the movie's for, without stopping to think if they're right or not. The only way you can properly review something is on it's own terms - Storytelling more so. Trouble is, what its own terms are exactly isn't quite clear - which isn't a criticism, but it is frustrating. So what can we say about Storytelling? Well, I can say whether I'd reccomend it or not. Well...no, I wouldn't. Not unreservedly. It's only really going to work for Solondz's "fanbase" (or indie-cred equivalent) or people who can appreciate bleak post-modernism (whinnying) like this. But it's "good" - it succeeds at what it sets out to do, probably. Can't say fairer than that. Perhaps.
C. B. gave it a 9:
Very good movie. Not as simplistic as some people are claiming. And for those who dislike the movie for its content are the ones being simplistic... Not all movies need to be "sunshine and happy rainbows," and when they are they are rarely worth watching. Movies are an art form and should be free to explore any subject matter (Bonnie G)
Cabbage gave it a 10:
The music in the opening credits. That's all I have to say. Genius!
Elliott M. gave it a 9:
The best of Solondz' films. All of you who are complaining about the content - don't ever see Happiness. You'll kill yourselves. Sure, this film is crude and mean, but it is also hilarious and I found myself laughing, despite the fact that I felt guilty for it. Happiness was just disgusting and had scenes thrown in simply for gross-out effect. Storytelling s a solid film full of thoughtful humor and condescending, yet hilarious, dialogue. Definitely not for all tastes, but this is a film that rewards multiple viewings, that is, if you're not afraid of being called a masochist.
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