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:

There was a third story with James Van Der Beek as a college student realizing his sexuality, which was subsequently cut out of the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Consuelo was cleaning the floor while Mikey was asking her about her family, the amount of dirt on the floor changes twice when the camera is turned away.

Quotes:

Mikey Livingston: Wasn't there high school in El Salvador?
Consuelo: We had to work. My family was poor.
Mikey Livingston: It must have been hard being poor.
Consuelo: I am still poor.
Mikey Livingston: But Consuelo... even though you're poor, don't you have any hobbies or interests or anything?
Consuelo: No, Mikey.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Mark Borchardt Was in 'The One' with Jet Li (2002) (V)

Soundtrack:

Scooby Driver

Hardly perfect, but strong

After re-watching Happiness for the first time in over a decade, I decided finally to catch up with Solondz's two follow-ups. Storytelling finds Solondz in a self-critical and defensive mood, taking on both his own weaknesses as a writer and his critics, who were ubiquitous after Happiness. That aspect of Storytelling didn't really work for me, because, honestly, I don't find Solondz as shallow as many critics did. His characters are sometimes grotesque, but I think he does uncover some uncomfortable truths about people with his technique. Storytelling is comprised of two parts. The first, entitled Fiction, is really a short film. Selma Blair plays a college student who is enrolled, alongside her disabled boyfriend, in a creative writing course. Their professor is a cynical, controversial and angry black novelist. After their professor gives a scathing criticism of the boyfriend's story, he and Blair break up angrily which leads Blair right into her professor's bed. It's hard to see exactly what Solondz is trying to say with this story. It's easy to say he's just trying to stir controversy and make the audience uncomfortable, at which he obviously excels. But the thing is, the uncomfortableness only arises because the emotions of the film are so precise. The second part of the film, Non-Fiction, is a little stronger. Paul Giamatti plays a documentarian who finds his ideal subject in the form of pothead Mark Webber, a high school student who has no ambition. Whatever Giamatti does with his film, it seems like he's making fun of his subject. I liked this part of the film better, because it deals with a subject that I think about often, that being the way documentaries work. There were a few bits of the film that I didn't like, but mostly I found it pretty strong. The film is bolstered by original songs by Belle & Sebastian.