Storytelling (2001)

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

Director:

Todd Solondz

Writer:

Todd Solondz

Stars:

Selma Blair, Leo Fitzpatrick, Robert Wisdom

Cast

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

Storyline

Storytelling is comprised of two separate stories set against the sadly comical terrain of college and high school, past and present. Following the paths of its young hopeful/ troubled characters, it explores issues of sex, race, celebrity and exploitation

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Plot Keywords:

high school | college | sex | depression | documentary filmmaker | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Diaphania -French site(fr) New Line [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

8 November 2001 (Russia)

Also Known As:

Untitled Todd Solondz Project

Filming Locations:

New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$73,688 (USA) (25 January 2002)

Gross:

$912,442 (USA) (22 March 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Killer Films, Good Machine

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Toby Oxman has a poster of the movie The Celebration.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Scooby Livingston: The movie's a hit.

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Connections

References Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993)

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Soundtracks

"I Don't Want To Play Football"
Performed by Belle & Sebastian
Written by Belle & Sebastian
Published by Sony ATV Music Publishing
Courtesy of Jeepster Recordings Limited & Matador Records, Inc.

User Reviews

An unpleasant, unsettling, and most importantly, necessary film

After reading about Palindromes and finding myself oddly attracted to the subject matter of several of Todd Solondz's features, I bought this film. It would seem that it has a reputation as being his worst work to date(at least as far as theatrically released movies go)... I must say, if the rest of what he's done is this powerful, I will have to keep my eyes open for it. You seldom see movies that are this unpleasant. There are films that are far, far harder to watch... but this is still not one you put on to enjoy yourself. As many other viewers, I didn't care much for the first half(well, part... it's a third of the projects full length, with a running time of about 25 minutes), "Fiction". I felt I had gained little after it was over, though I will say that the concept and themes explored are quite interesting. "Non-Fiction" proved to be far more worth-while, in my opinion. The writing and direction is excellent in both. The pacing works well... I was never bored, and while it wasn't exactly a "good" time, it moved along as it should, never really too slow or too fast. The characters were incredible... the sheer amount of development, through so little time spent on each... that's talent. As its title indicates, Storytelling goes into different methods of telling a story... and displays some of the most impressive storytelling that I've seen to date. There is some humor, but it's quite black, and throughout the film, I was unsure of whether I should laugh out loud... or cry my eyes out. The film is strongly satirical, very direct and seemingly almost aggressively anti-PC. Dealing with several subjects of taboo, Solondz pulls few punches, if any. Certainly not a film for everyone. Both parts seem to end somewhat abruptly, but that may be intentional. I will say that my rating would almost certainly have been higher had the first part been improved upon... or removed entirely. It's difficult to say who I'd recommend this to... cynics or realists with a strong threshold for the some of the ugliest sides of human nature, I suppose. From what I understand, though, it's less provocative than the other films of Todd Solondz. 8/10