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Palindromes (2004)

tomatometer

42

Average Rating: 5.3/10
Reviews Counted: 113
Fresh: 47 | Rotten: 66

Unique but cold.

47

Average Rating: 5.7/10
Critic Reviews: 34
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 18

Unique but cold.

audience

69

liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 8,509

My Rating

Movie Info

Palindromes opens with the dedication, "In loving memory of Dawn Wiener," a reference to the lead character in writer/director Todd Solondz' early feature, Welcome to the Dollhouse. Aviva has just attended Dawn's funeral. Dismayed by her older cousin's untimely death, Aviva asks her mother (Ellen Barkin) for assurance that she won't grow up to be like Dawn. Aviva only dreams of one thing -- having babies. Lots and lots of babies. As a teen, while Aviva has no interest in sex, she eagerly loses

Unrated, 1 hr. 40 min.

Drama, Comedy, Special Interest

Todd Solondz

Sep 13, 2005

$0.5M

Wellspring

Cast

All Critics (124) | Top Critics (37) | Fresh (47) | Rotten (68) | DVD (8)

Subversive by reputation, Solondz is an acquired taste on his best day, and he's just all over the place with this one. Unpleasantly so.

June 17, 2005 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | Comment
Orlando Sentinel
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The movie's oppressive atmosphere of flatly rendered, all-consuming determinism leaves it sparkless, pointless and ultimately not very funny.

May 13, 2005 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

In its own peculiar way, it is a more compassionate and useful religious document than Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.

May 13, 2005 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | Comment
Globe and Mail
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Let the discomfort commence.

May 7, 2005 Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | Comment
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Palindromes" isn't a wise movie, or a particularly true movie, but it's an honest one and a singular experience.

May 6, 2005 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

An intellectually satisfying puzzle.

May 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Denver Post | Comment
Denver Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

"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.

June 20, 2009 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | Comment
ColeSmithey.com

A bizarre but brilliant headscratcher!

July 15, 2007 Full Review Source: Denver Urban Spectrum | Comment
Denver Urban Spectrum

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

May 31, 2007 Full Review | Comment
WBAI Web Radio

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

May 29, 2007 Full Review | Comment
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.

August 15, 2006 Full Review Source: LYTRules.com | Comment

potentially decent film buried under the thick layers of misanthropy

November 27, 2005 Full Review Source: Draxblog Movie Reviews | Comment

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.

October 6, 2005 Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | Comment
DVDTalk.com

Most demanding.

September 15, 2005 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

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

September 10, 2005 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comment
eFilmCritic.com

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

September 8, 2005 Full Review Source: All Movie Guide | Comment
All Movie Guide
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Palindromes

"Palindromes" is intermittently engaging but overall does not have much of a point. The plot focuses on a girl who's about 13 and wants to have a baby. Because her parents will not allow her to pursue this dream, she runs away, hoping to get impregnated someday. Along the way, she meets Christian anti-abortion

November 22, 2009
Bill D 2007
William Dunmyer

Super Reviewer

It?s a bit complicated but its bold and very original! Typically disturbing while being quite tender, what will Solondz do next?

September 23, 2009
SirPant

Super Reviewer

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Foreign Titles

  • Palindrome (DE)
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