RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Storytelling
Storytelling

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Storytelling (2002)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
53 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:89

Fresh:47

Rotten:42

Average Rating:5.6/10

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong sexual content, language and some drug use

Runtime: 87 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:Jan 25, 2002 Limited

Box Office: $850,758

Synopsis: Director Todd Solondz (WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, HAPPINESS) presents this characteristically bleak and darkly comic drama in two distinct parts. The first story, "Fiction" stars Selma Blair as Vi,... Director Todd Solondz (WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, HAPPINESS) presents this characteristically bleak and darkly comic drama in two distinct parts. The first story, "Fiction" stars Selma Blair as Vi, a confused university student who engages in an impulsive tryst with her Pulitzer Prize-winning professor (Robert Wisdom) after arguing with her cerebral palsy-afflicted boyfriend (Leo Fitzpatrick). The second (and longer) tale, "Non-Fiction," stars Paul Giamatti as Toby, a down-on-his-luck documentary filmmaker who turns his camera on Scooby (Mark Webber), an unmotivated teenager, and his suburban New Jersey family. At times even more controversial and confrontational than Solondz's previous films, STORYTELLING bluntly addresses issues such as race, sex, physical impairment, education, censorship, and exploitation, while not-so-subtly referencing and parodying both AMERICAN BEAUTY and AMERICAN MOVIE (whose own Mike Schank appears in the film). Cannily aware of both his admirers and detractors, Solondz has taken the intriguing step of criticizing his own work within the creative confines of the two stories. As with HAPPINESS, the director has assembled an impressive ensemble cast that also includes John Goodman, Julie Hagerty, Franka Potente, and Lupe Ontiveros. As a counterpoint to the often-glum proceedings, a bright, airy soundtrack is provided Belle and Sebastian and songwriter Nathan Larson. [More]

Starring: Paul Giamatti, Selma Blair, Mark Webber, Leo Fitzpatrick

Starring: Paul Giamatti, Selma Blair, Mark Webber, Leo Fitzpatrick, Robert Wisdom, John Goodman, Julie Hagerty, Noah Fleiss, Jonathan Osser, Lupe Ontiveros, Aleksa Palladino, Mike Schank, Franka Potente, Xander Berkeley

Director: Todd Solondz

Director: Todd Solondz
Screenwriter: Todd Solondz
Producer: Ted Hope, Christine Vachon
Composer: Nathan Larson
Studio: Fine Line Features

[See More Credits]

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Jul 16, 2002

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Storytelling

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

The work of someone who has read too much of his own press, and in his rush to make a film to address critics, forgot to come up with a movie worth seeing.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment 1 Comment
02/08/02
Rene Rodriguez
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
05/16/01
Guardian [UK]

The talented cast is largely wasted on the strange-just-to-be-strange tales.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
01/25/02
E! Online
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
02/09/02
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
03/09/02
Arizona Republic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Movieline | comment Comment
12/02/02
Movieline

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/08/02
Film Threat

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Empire Magazine

Awfully funny. And I do mean awfully.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
10/22/01
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
12/15/03
Alexander Walker
Alexander Walker
This is London

Solondz is so intent on hammering home his message that he forgets to make it entertaining.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
05/15/02
Andrew Howe
Andrew Howe
eFilmCritic.com

Despite [Solondz's] undeniable talent, however manipulative, his stories are too sour and mean-spirited for my taste.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
03/13/02
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Solondz is without doubt an artist of uncompromising vision, but that vision is beginning to feel, if not morally bankrupt, at least terribly monotonous.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
02/08/02
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post

Sometimes seems less like storytelling than something the otherwise compelling director needed to get off his chest.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
02/08/02
Bob Graham
Bob Graham
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Todd Solondz: The world doesn't need him around, but as long as he's here we may as well have some laughs.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
01/25/02
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

Director Todd Solondz has made a movie about critical reaction to his two previous movies, and about his responsibility to the characters that he creates.

Full Review Source: Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus | comment Comment
02/24/02
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus

There are unnervingly fine performances from Selma Blair as the aspiring fiction writer and from Mark Webber as Scooby.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
02/07/02
Carrie Rickey
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

More than any other filmmaker, Solondz represents the worst trend of American indie filmmaking over the last 10 years: the movie as freak show.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
01/25/02
Charles Taylor
Charles Taylor
Salon.com

Storytelling feels slight.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
02/28/02
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
78% 78% The Hangover
88% 88% Inglourious Basterds
66% 66% Public Enemies
24% 24% G-Force
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
90% 90% District 9
86% 86% 500 Days of Summer
63% 63% Extract
06% 06% All About Steve
78% 78% It Might Get Loud

More New Releases…

See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

Best of the Decade

Best of the Decade

Find out what movies made our list!

Iron Man 2

Iron Man 2

Watch the brand new trailer now!

Clash of the Titans

Clash of the Titans

Prepare to Clash with Titans in this trailer!

Total Recall

Total Recall

RT looks back on Jude Law's best movies!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Weekly Ketchup: Peter Jackson's Secret Sci-Fi Project
36
  • New Toy Story 3 Clip, Photos Posted Source: Slashfilm
20
  • Danny Trejo Talks Machete, Possible Sequels Source: Collider.com
14
  • It's Official: Jackass 3-D Coming in 2010 Source: Collider.com
16
  • Bryan Singer Returning to X-Men for First Class Source: Superhero Hype
102
  • Mark Strong Talks Kick-Ass, John Carter, and Robin Hood Source: Collider.com
1
  • How Avatar Happened: The Path to Innovation Source: CinemaBlend.com
19
  • Rob Marshall Says Pirates 4 Is Still a Maybe Source: ComingSoon.net
32
  • ET Teases Iron Man 2 Teaser Source: Collider.com
28
  • Tobey Maguire Refutes Hobbit Rumors Source: Hollywood Reporter
9
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Avatar Soars to #1 Spot
261
  • RT's Best of the Decade!
141
  • Brittany Murphy: 1977-2009
115
  • Five Favorite Films With Peter Jackson
69
  • Total Recall: Jude Law's Best Movies
55
  • Critics Consensus: Sherlock Holmes Is Worth Investigating
33
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: District 9 and (500) Days of Summer
32
  • Weekly Ketchup: Peter Jackson's Secret Sci-Fi Project
12
  • What We're Watching on Blu-ray from Disney!
9
  • Friday Harvest: Sherlock Holmes, Toy Story 3, and more!
9
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Five Favorite Films With Peter Jackson
69
  • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
21
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
24
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
16
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
24
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Storytelling at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Storytelling at AskMen

Fresh Links

Featured
Best Dozen of the Decade
Best Dozen of the Decade External Link

Last week, MSN gave us their top 09 films. Now see what their favorites of the decade are!

Top 50 of 2009
Top 50 of 2009 External Link

Here's a list of the 50 best movies of 2009, according to the good people over at Moviefone.

Santa's Naughty List
Santa's Naughty List External Link

Hollywood.com takes a stab at determining who in movies will be on Santa's naughty list in 2009.

Top 10 Movies of 2009
Top 10 Movies of 2009 External Link

TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.

Top 20 of the Decade
Top 20 of the Decade External Link

Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!

Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Follow RT on Twitter External Link

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo
About Us | Advertise | Contact Us | Press | Careers
IGN | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | Direct2Drive | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Game Sites | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | GIGA.DE | What They Play | Battlefield Heroes
By continuing past this page, and by your continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. | Support | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! RSS Feeds
IGN’s enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA.
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.