Storytelling
by Todd Solondz
List Price:
Our Price: $4.94
You Save: $20.04 (80%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.30 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: John Goodman, Julie Hagerty, Lupe Ontiveros, Noah Fleiss, Paul GiamattiDirector: Todd Solondz
Brand: NEW Line Home Video
Cinematographer: Frederick Elmes
Composer: Nathan Larson
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 87 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-07-16
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: New Line Home Video
Movie Reviews of Storytelling
Movie Review: A Masterpiece. A Really Terrific Movie.
Summary: 5 Stars
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
Summary of Storytelling
From Todd Solondz, the critically acclaimed director of Welcome to the Dollhouse comes a film 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 issues of sex, race, celebrity and exploitation.Todd Solondz, director of the acclaimed Welcome to the Dollhouse and the controversial Happiness, continues pushing the envelope of social decorum with the merciless and casually cruel Storytelling, his most ruthless satire of suburban complacency. Broken into two unrelated chapters, "Fiction" follows college girl Selma Blair through a degrading encounter with her resentful writing teacher (Robert Wisdom), while the more sprawling and scattershot "Non-Fiction" circles around the mutual exploitation of a fumbling documentary filmmaker (Paul Giamatti doing a near-parody of director Solondz) and his clueless subject, a suburban high school slacker named Scooby (Mark Webber). The squirmy laughs are laced with humiliation and the satire is acidic and cynical; in the world of Solondz, victims and victimizers alike are petty, selfish, vindictive, and thoughtless, and empathy is strictly rationed. Though sharply written and well directed, this misanthropic vision is strictly for daring filmgoers and Solondz fans. --Sean Axmaker
Similar DVD Movies
Prozac NationBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2005-07-05; DVD
Best price: $7.86
Price in other shops:
TwilightPARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO; Release date: 1998-10-07; DVD
Best price: $23.95
After.LifeABE; Release date: 2010-08-03; DVD
Best price: $6.46
Price in other shops:
Feast of LoveSony; Release date: 2008-02-05; DVD
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
Havoc (Unrated Version)NEW Line Home Video; Release date: 2005-11-29; DVD
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops:
Before the Devil Knows You're DeadImage Entertainment; Release date: 2008-04-15; Published: 2008-04-01; DVD
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops:
Life During Wartime (The Criterion Collection)IMG; Release date: 2011-07-26; DVD
Best price: $17.98
Price in other shops:
PalindromesWellspring Media INC; Release date: 2005-09-13; DVD
Best price: $11.25
Price in other shops:
Welcome to the DollhouseSony; Release date: 1999-08-03; Published: 1999-08-01; DVD
Best price: $15.13
Price in other shops:
HappinessLions Gate; Release date: 1999-04-27; DVD
Best price: $8.98
Price in other shops: