Take away the subversive hilarity of his movies, and [Solondz] could well be the cinematic equivalent of the Unabomber.
Comment
04/17/05
Palindromes (2005)
43
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:110
Fresh:47
Rotten:63
Average Rating:5.3/10
Consensus: Unique but cold.
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... [More]
Starring: Ellen Barkin, Debra Monk, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Director: Todd Solondz
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Reviews for Palindromes
Palindromes is Todd Solondz's first significant cinematic failure, a pitch-black fable twice as shallow and trite as it is intriguing.
04/16/05
Solondz isn’t just smart, but singularly brilliant at pinpointing the way inner neuroses and insecurities are as much a constant in life as exterior joys and tragedies
04/15/05
It's a mean-spirited and obvious excuse to wallow in physical and moral ugliness no matter how you look at it.
04/15/05
Remarkably, Solondz gets a consistent character out of the numerous players. Still, the weirdness of the presentation blunts her trauma, and for the first time in a Solondz film, the movie's as well.
04/15/05
There may not be a more troubled filmmaker in the world today who isn’t taping beheadings for Islamic Jihad.
04/15/05
Forward or backward, the multi-actor device spoils the chance for this to mean anything except a failed experiment that has nothing to say.
04/15/05
What could have been Solondz's most complex and challenging film winds up being a bit on the flat side.
04/15/05
Solondz secures sincere performances from his able cast, and no one can accuse him of pulling his punches.
04/15/05
While not as perversely enjoyable as his sophomore masterpiece... "Palindromes" nonetheless serves up experimental, thought-provoking fare with a side of queasy comedy
04/14/05
As depressing as it is hard to watch, Palindromes is also consistently, horrifyingly funny and sharp-witted.
04/14/05
Top CriticIt should be said that Solondz is an equal-opportunity misanthrope, mocking the garishly insensitive rah-rah-abortion mom, the thoughtlessly fanatical opposition, and everyone in between.
04/14/05
...this time around there’s not even much humor to keep the onscreen misery tolerable.
04/14/05
[A] triumph of Solondz’s bleak fatalism over his heroine’s ingenuously American insistence on the possibility of happiness.
04/14/05
With his sense of predestination, [director] Solondz is like the Sam Shepard of sterile suburban strip malls.
04/14/05
Solondz's use of 8 characters to portray one person distances us emotionally.
04/13/05
I would like Palindromes a lot better if I thought Solondz were actually satirizing something.
04/13/05
Top CriticThat rare event: a memorable provocation.
04/13/05
Top CriticAs intelligent as tacks in Jell-O, and likely as painful to swallow.
04/13/05
Solondz has said he wanted to play with conventions of audience identification and sympathy, but the whole gimmick is about as playful as a bucket of water poised over the theater door.
04/13/05
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