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Palindromes

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Palindromes (2005)

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Reviews Counted:110

Fresh:47

Rotten:63

Average Rating:5.3/10

Consensus: Unique but cold.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Apr 13, 2005 Limited

Box Office: $476,497

Synopsis: With PALINDROMES, fiercely independent writer-director Todd Solondz (HAPPINESS, STORYTELLING) places the topic of abortion under his scathing microscope. This time around, Solondz takes an even... With PALINDROMES, fiercely independent writer-director Todd Solondz (HAPPINESS, STORYTELLING) places the topic of abortion under his scathing microscope. This time around, Solondz takes an even more daring approach by casting seven different actors to play the film's lead role. Aviva Victor is the young New Jersey cousin of the recently deceased Dawn Wiener (the heroine from Solondz's Sundance-winning WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE). Living under the watchful eye of her overprotective parents Joyce (Ellen Barkin) and Steve (Richard Masur), Aviva dreams of the day when she will be able to call herself a mother--a wish that is prematurely granted after an adolescent tryst. Unfortunately, her parents will not allow her to have the baby under any circumstances, which causes Aviva to run away from home. On the road, she falls for a lonely trucker (Stephen Adly Guirgis) and winds up at the home of the ultra-evangelical Mama Sunshine (Debra Monk), who cares for a wide variety of disabled children. But when the trucker reappears and it becomes quite clear that the bond he shares with Aviva is not just some perverted fantasy, the relationship builds to its inevitably tragic conclusion. Solondz's biting satire is a bold statement in support of a mother's right to choose, but it also takes a surprisingly humane approach to those on the other side of the argument. Featuring standout performances by Barkin, Monk, and Guirgis, PALINDROMES makes a bold, powerful statement. [More]

Starring: Ellen Barkin, Debra Monk, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Jennifer Jason Leigh

Starring: Ellen Barkin, Debra Monk, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Richard Masur

Director: Todd Solondz

Director: Todd Solondz
Screenwriter: Todd Solondz
Producer: Derrick Tseng, Mike Ryan
Composer: Nathan Larson
Studio: Wellspring

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Release:

Sep 13, 2005

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Reviews for Palindromes

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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"Palindromes" is a sloppy and muddy film that uses the shock value of seeing adult men humping numerous underage girls as its recurring visual device inscrutably linked to an unclear abortion issue theme.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
06/20/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: NPR.org | comment Comment
10/18/08
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello
NPR.org

A bizarre but brilliant headscratcher!

Full Review Source: Denver Urban Spectrum | comment Comment
07/15/07
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
Denver Urban Spectrum

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound

The director's latest trek into the lunatic void, of what can best be described as the cinematic version of clinical depression.

Full Review Source: Long Island Press | comment Comment
05/29/07
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
Long Island Press

...captures the shifting identity of adolescence, where one day you feel like a glamorous adult, others like a scared child, others still like a grotesquely overweight misfit.

Full Review Source: LYTRules.com | comment Comment
08/15/06
Luke Y. Thompson
Luke Y. Thompson
LYTRules.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
05/12/06
Ken Tucker
Ken Tucker
New York Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

potentially decent film buried under the thick layers of misanthropy

Full Review Source: Draxblog Movie Reviews | comment Comment
11/27/05
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
Draxblog Movie Reviews

OK, I'll admit it: I've next to no idea what to make of Palindromes, and you know what? I doubt the filmmaker would have a problem with me owning up to it.

Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | comment Comment
10/06/05
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
DVDTalk.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/26/05
AV Club
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Most demanding.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
09/15/05
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

For all its pompous attempts at seriousness and emotional depth, Palindromes is actually a remarkably shallow affair.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
09/10/05
David Cornelius
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com

Aviva...in all her permutations, may as well be a bug under the director's microscope.

Full Review Source: All Movie Guide | comment Comment
09/08/05
Josh Ralske
Josh Ralske
All Movie Guide
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
09/02/05
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[Director Todd] Solondz simply pukes all over the American landscape and all its inhabitants in a nihilistic cinematic chunder…

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
08/30/05
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
07/21/05
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Underdeveloped and uneven yet oddly watchable, the gimmicky Palindromes once again cements the conceit that nobody makes films quite like Todd Solondz.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
07/21/05
David N. Butterworth
David N. Butterworth
rec.arts.movies.reviews
 
 
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