Storytelling (2001)

Director:

Todd Solondz

Writer (WGA):

Todd Solondz (written by)

Release Date:

8 November 2001 (Russia)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

College and high school serve as the backdrop for two stories about dysfunction and personal turmoil.

Plot Keywords:

College | High School | Celebrity | Exploitation | Writing Class

Cast

Selma Blair	...	Vi ('Fiction')
Leo Fitzpatrick	...	Marcus ('Fiction')
Robert Wisdom	...	Mr. Scott ('Fiction')
Maria Thayer	...	Amy ('Fiction')
Angela Goethals	...	Elli ('Fiction')
Devorah Rose	...	Lucy ('Fiction')
Nancy Anne Ridder	...	Joyce ('Fiction')
Steve Rosen	...	Ethan ('Fiction') (as Steven Rosen)
Aleksa Palladino	...	Catherine ('Fiction')
Mary Lynn Rajskub	...	Melinda ('Fiction')
Tina Holmes	...	Sue ('Fiction')
Paul Giamatti	...	Toby Oxman ('Non-fiction')
Mike Schank	...	Mike the Cameraman ('Non-fiction')
Xander Berkeley	...	Mr. DeMarco ('Non-fiction')
Mark Webber	...	Scooby Livingston ('Non-fiction')

Also Known As:

Story Telling (USA) (trailer title)
Untitled Todd Solondz Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content, language and some drug use.

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hungary:16 | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Denmark:11 | New Zealand:R18 | Argentina:18 | Australia:MA | Brazil:18 | Canada:18A | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Netherlands:16 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #38271) | USA:Unrated | Malaysia:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Adelphi University, Garden City, Long Island, New York, USA

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

Emmanuelle Chriqui, Adam Hann-Byrd, and Heather Matarazzo also filmed scenes that were cut from the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Livingstons are eating dinner, towards the end of the scene, Mikey's collar goes from inside his sweater to outside between shots.

Quotes:

Toby Oxman: Scooby. Scooby. Scooby. What are you thinking?

Movie Connections:

References "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" (1993)

Soundtrack:

A Real Mother for Ya

It has a beginning a middle and (most definitely) an end!

Another completely original, dark, deeply skewered and audacious commentary on society from Todd S., whom we've come to depend upon for this sort of thing. Not as focused as Dollhouse or as filled-out as Happiness, Storytelling does seem sparse, and that's one of the things I like best about it (I've seen it 4 times now)- how T.S. didn't feel the need to conform to what the majority of film goers (even his OWN crowd!) expect when they enter a theatre.

It's divided into two parts - Fiction, with its heavy sexual, presumably-racist and ironic elements, a searing affair that many people seem to have found offensive without getting the underlying satire, and then there's Non-Fiction; amazing how much spot-on societal jabs T. S. squeezes into this one, and plus it has another great, multi-layered performance from Paul Giamatti, always a major selling point of any film, for me.

The bottom line: I believe T.S. deserves credit for his audacity alone, his unwillingness to compromise his vision, however unacceptable it might be. Or he might be consciously tailoring his vision toward the unacceptable, sort of like Andy Kaufman did - getting off on just making people react, shaking them out of indifference. Or maybe, like some people have suggested, he's run out of ideas (or he peaked with Dollhouse) and he's just rehashing the same stuff, hoping nobody will notice. Or maybe he WANTS us to notice, maybe it's a cry for help, in which case I would recommend a writing class, but NOT one that has Robert Wisdom as the professor.