Welcome to the Dollhouse
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Movie Reviews of Welcome to the Dollhouse
Movie Review: Sad and Funny at the Same Time
Summary: 5 Stars
Dawn Wiener is a nerdy and unattractive 7th grader, who is bullied and made fun of in school, and basically ignored by her family, the only times she's acknowledged by her mom is when she gets in trouble because her younger, perfect, ballerina dancer of a sister, named Missy told on her again. Even some of her teachers dislike her too. When Dawn let's the teacher know Brandon is copying her answers or she tells the principal she shot a spitball in defense, because she was being bullied once again, she is the one that ends up getting in trouble, because she just can't win. She only has one friend Ralphie who is still in Elementary School, and develops a crush on Steve Rodgers. Dawn's older brothers friend who plays in a band with him. Parts in the movie like: when the popular cheerleaders ask Dawn whether she is a lesbian, The goth girl cornering Dawn in the bathroom telling her to take a crap, and her main bully, Brandon which threatens to rape her after school 2 days in a row, but turns out he is secretly in love with Dawn, for some reason made me smirk, I know it's not funny, but you just can't help it. It's sad to see that even when she runs away in search of her kidnapped younger sister, her parents still don't notice she was gone, and at the end of the movie her classmates all yell "Wienerdog" in unison while she is standing in the podium of the school auditorium giving a speech of gratitude for having Missy back home again. No Dawn does not become popular at the end, everyone in school still hates her, and her parents still love Missy more than her. For those of us who are way past middle school will probably find some of it funny, but for those that are still in middle school, and going through an awkward phase, most likely won't.Movie Review: Absolutely excellent
Summary: 5 Stars
I just caught the movie on cable, and I have to say it was incredible. It's the only movie I've seen that really shows how bad it can be to be in junior high. Here, Dawn Weiner, an 11 year old in the seventh grade, deals with a school full of people who hate her, a family that doesn't care about her, and the awkwardness of being too young to have a voice but too old to be a kid. There are no movie cliches here... the main character doesn't manage to outwit the people who are teasing her, and there's no big revelation that causes everyone to accept her. In fact, the moral of the story seems to be "adolescence can be hell, and for some people there's nothing to do but survive it." While many might find this terribly depressing, I think many who don't look upon their adolescence fondly but eventually reached a better time of their lives will see it as a slice of a particularly hard phase of life rather than an incredible downer.
Still, there's humor here as well. The laughs are often at the expense of the protagonist, so there's an unsettling level to them: are we so different from those who torture Dawn? The movie is funny the same way American Beauty is funny, filled with incredibly dark humor that we can laugh at only because we know that it's happening to a ficticious character. At the end of it all, though, I have to say that despite the incredibly serious nature of the movie I thought that the depression was almost neutralized by the humor.
I really recommend this movie. If you had a terrible adolescence, you'll identify with it completely. If you didn't, this movie is a great description of what you've heard about.
Movie Review: A superior dark comedy, a poison slice of American Pie
Summary: 5 Stars
One thing you will notice when you turn this movie on and begin watching it is how incredibly right and true to life it is. The movies strength lies in it's sarcasm. It is serious, but it doesn't take itself seriously. If junior high bit you, this movie bites back. You are forced to admire the courage with which the character's face every day of their misunderstood lives. The protagonist of this movie, named Dawn Wiener (they call her wienerdog) is shy, softspoken and awkward, with a odd mismatching retro style of dressing and big wiry glasses. Therefore, she is labeled a loser. Like all junior high school kids she wants to be popular. Despite the movie's various character, the focus never really shifts from Dawn.
Enter Steve, the most popular guy in the high school. He is forced into playing in Dawn's brother's (also a nerd) band in return for tutoring in math class. Dawn decides that she is in love with him and tries various hilarious strategies to win him over.
The best thing about this movie is it's dark look at average suburban life. Yes, maybe you can be average, safe and live in a house with a white picket fence, but the pecking order still exists. Alienation exists everywhere.
The theme song is perhaps the best part of an exceptional movie. It expresses the bitter and sometimes painful experience of suburban life, junior high, and being an outcast anywhere. At the end, the movie leaves you with one hard luck comforting message. The message is that even Junior High is not forever. Someday, Dawn Wiener could still be someone important.
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Movie Review: The Curse of a Middle Child or Welcome to Hell!
Summary: 5 Stars
Just imagine for one second that you are an 11 years old girl with ugly glasses. You are a middle child (the film also known as "Faggots and Retards" or "Middle Child") whose parents divide their love between your older brother who is a computer wiz and a little sister, a pretty ballerina. They have neither time nor interest for you. Your name is Dawn Wiener, and almost every student in your middle school hates you, tells you in your face that you are ugly, and nobody remembers your name, you are called Dog Face or Wiener Dog, and one of your classmates greets you every morning with the words, "I'll rape you today at 3 pm" . The film should be called "Welcome to Hell", and Todd Solondz is our Virgil in this Inferno.
Heather Matarazzo is absolutely terrific. She was able to play both, an archetype of an insecure, unloved, misunderstood, and lost in this cruel world child as well as one very real suffering young girl from New Jersey. I could not forget her Dawn, I wanted to talk her, to tell her that yes, the world is cruel, and she was dealt the mixed cards from the beginning but she could play them, there is always hope, there are books, music, and art. Hang on; I would tell her, you are not going to be an "ugly duckling" forever. You'll take off your stupid glasses, you will grow up, you'll be just fine and you will find friends - just wait. But how can one wait at 11? The time drags so slowly in childhood, and every day is descending to Hell...
One of the best films about the "happy" school years I've ever seen.
Movie Review: One of the Best Movies of the 1990s.
Summary: 5 Stars
Let me get this out of the way: in grade school, I was teased. A lot. In fact, it was so bad that even walking to school was an emotionally and physically painful experience. I can relate to every second of misery Dawn endures in the dynamite "Welcome to the Dollhouse." Most films like "Sixteen Candles" view high school as some insulated paradise. Not this film. Here, Dawn (played by Heather Matarazzo) is as socially inept as a pre-teen girl can be. She is subject to taunts, verbal assault, and vicious mind games at the hands of her classmates. Home life isn't much better; her parents blissfully ignore her while they shower attention on her cutsey younger sister, Missy. They give her attention only when they catch her doing something wrong, which seems to be most of the time. On top of this, she develops a crush for the teenage lead singer of her brother's band. Anyone who has experienced unrequieted love will find this subplot heartbreaking to watch. Despite the above, "Welcome to the Dollhouse" is a murderously funny movie to watch, even if you were a victim of grade school teasing. The performances are dead-on and it's one of my favorite movies of the 1990's.