Storytelling (2001)

Trite stories told badly
The purpose of this review is to save someone 87 minutes of life. Spend that time elsewhere than with this film.
Before writing this review, I required myself to read all 68 previous reviews of the film posted on [...]. I usually allow myself this privilege only after I write a review. I want to record what I need to say before I allow others their fair say. I want to trust what I think, what I feel; I no longer want others--be they scholars or celebrities or athletes or family or friends--to think for me. Let me think, let me express, then let me consider the thoughts of others.
This time, though, my thoughts were so clear. This is trash--vulgar trash.
Am I surprised that people loved this movie? Yes. How did they record their impressions? One wrote about the "Sartrean power struggles" in the movie. If that phrase makes sense to you, perhaps this movie will also.
So I cast my vote with the haters of this movie, the critics who are forced to give it one star because we are not allowed to give it no stars, the critics who wrote the following:
"Less real than Sponge Bob Squarepants. . ."
"There isn't a laugh in it. . ."
"Arrogantly refuses to tell a cohesive story. . ."
"Simply mean-spirited. . ."
"More the illusion of substance. . .than substance. . ."
"It. . .offended me, bored me, confused me. . .very rarely did I feel entertained."
Save yourself.

Everyone always has a story to tell.
Todd Solondz's `Welcome to the Dollhouse' showed comic/absurd promise; his masturbation scene in `Happiness' overstepped the boundary of film taste but got everyone's attention. While I didn't enjoy "Storytelling" as much as I did the Director's two previous films, "Happiness" and "Welcome to The Dollhouse," Solondz continues to amaze with his depictions of just how awkward true life really is. As always, he masterfully shows the oft times tactless, cynical, transparent motivations of everyday suburban life and combines them with outrageous situations, giving a humorous view into the myriad of interesting quirky characters he creates. As with Happiness, Storytelling has no background characters. Each character gets fully explored in a way that no matter how familiar or foreign a specific character's behavior might be to you, you can't help but understand their motivations. Solondz can develop over 10 characters in 88 minutes while most conventional Hollywood films fail to portray just one in any given 3 hour "epic".

Selma Blair and Leo Fitzpatrick give incredible performances in the first segment of this film titled "Fiction". John Goodman is at his best here in the film's second segment "Non-fiction", not to mention it was a good to see Julie Haggerty in it.

One of the film's most honest moments (and there are MANY) comes in the beginning of the Non-Fiction segment, during a phone call Paul Giamatti gives to a female classmate he hadn't spoken to since high school. While hilarious, I couldn't help but feel bad for his character, which gets fleshed out in the almost confessional tone of the conversation (which of course, he blunders).

I don't want to dig far into the plot because the elements of shock and surprise that are Solondz bread and butter should only be revealed by others, suffice it to say I recommend this movie very highly. I look forward to anything this director does.

A Masterpiece. A Really Terrific Movie.
Todd Solondz is a talented filmmaker and I can say that after seeing only one of his films. I saw "Happiness" a few months ago and appreciated it for how smart it was. It was disturbing, disgusting, but smartly written despite all the vulgarity (something I normally never have a problem with). When discussing "This Film is Not Yet Rated" he mentioned a scene from that film was from "Storytelling" a movie I had never heard of. I rented it that day and saw that it was written and directed by Todd Solondz, so I expected the same kind of thing. When the film ended I just thought...Wow. This is a great film. Unique, provocative, funny, and very intelligently written. I loved it. It's separated into two parts, two mini-movies if you will. The first is "Fiction" and the second is "Non-Fiction." At least, those are those titles, which are ironic in the same way the title of "Happiness" is. The movie runs 82 minutes. I expected them to be 40 minutes apiece. Oddly enough, "Fiction" is 27 and "Non-Fiction" is 55. A lot of writers would fear doing something like this, but Solondz doesn't want to fill something in just because it's expected. Both films end exactly when they should and not a single scene seems unnecessary. Here's a synopsis of both:

FICTION:
A college student named Vi (Selma Blair, looking beautiful) has been "dating" Marcus (Leo Fitzpatrick, "Kids"), a man with cerebral palsy. After he writes a short story based on their relationship and is told by the professor, Mr. Scott (Robert Wisdom) that his story sucks. Since Vi told him it was good, he's disappointed and breaks up with her. Vi goes to a bar to "get drunk and get laid" and finds Mr. Scott there. This leads to two things...A terrific ending and a (dare I say it) great "erotic" scene.

NON-FICTION:
In this story, a loser documentary filmmaker named Toby (Paul Giamatti) sets out to make a documentary about teenagers. He finds the perfect specimen (at least, the only one who will participate in it) in Scooby (Mark Webber), a gay Conan O'Brien wannabe. Scooby lives with an overbearing father (John Goodman, in top form), a strange and possibly mentally challenged mother (Julie Haggerty), a popular brother Brady, and a little demon-child intelligent younger brother named Mikey. Several sub-plots abound in this story, including Brady having a football accident and Mikey's attempts to get their nanny Consuelo (Lupe Ontiveros) fired. The ending is one of the best endings I've seen in a long time.

Out of both stories, I like "Non-Fiction" the best. Both are terrific, containing great acting and well-written story lines that never faulter. But "Non-Fiction" is just a masterpiece all its own.
Giamatti, Goodman, Webber, and Ontiveros are superb. The dialogue is so funny and so meaningful. I can't rave enough about this movie. Both endings make so much sense; they're almost poetic. This film is a masterpiece, a movie that truly deserves to be seen by a larger audience. Even if you didn't like "Happiness" or any of Solondz's other work (I now want to see more of it) I urge you to see this film. This is an American comedy that ranks right up there with
Sideways, Election, and About Schmidt.
GRADE: A