Palindromes (2004)

Aviva is thirteen, awkward and sensitive. Her mother Joyce is warm and loving, as is her father, Steve, a regular guy who does have a fierce temper from time to time. The film revolves around her family, friends and neighbors.

Director:

Todd Solondz

Writer:

Todd Solondz

Stars:

Matthew Faber, Ellen Barkin, Stephen Adly Guirgis

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matthew Faber	...	Mark Wiener
Angela Pietropinto	...	Mrs. Wiener
Bill Buell	...	Mr. Wiener
Emani Sledge	...	'Dawn' Aviva
Ellen Barkin	...	Joyce Victor
Valerie Shusterov	...	'Judah' Aviva
Richard Masur	...	Steve Victor
Hillary B. Smith	...	Robin Wallace
Danton Stone	...	Bruce Wallace
Robert Agri	...	First Judah
Hannah Freiman	...	'Henry' Aviva
Stephen Singer	...	Dr. Fleischer
Rachel Corr	...	'Henrietta' Aviva
Stephen Adly Guirgis	...	Joe / Earl / Bob
Will Denton	...	'Huckleberry' Aviva

Storyline

A fable of innocence: thirteen-year-old Aviva Victor wants to be a 'mom'. She does all she can to make this happen, and comes very close to succeeding, but in the end her plan is thwarted by her sensible parents. So she runs away, still determined to get pregnant one way or another, but instead finds herself lost in another world, a less sensible one, perhaps, but one pregnant itself with all sorts of strange possibility. She takes a road trip from the suburbs of New Jersey, through Ohio to the plains of Kansas and back. Like so many trips, this one is round-trip, and it's hard to say in the end if she can ever be quite the same again, or if she can ever be anything but the same again.

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Plot Keywords:

new jersey | kansas | suburb | neighbor | hitchhiking | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hebrew

Release Date:

21 January 2005 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Palindrome

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$57,251 (USA) (15 April 2005)

Gross:

$553,368 (USA) (9 September 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Extra Large Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Heather Matarazzo turned down reprising the role of Dawn Wiener in this film.

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Goofs

The film takes place in New Jersey, yet in one of the hitch-hiking scenes we see a road sign for US Route 3, which in reality is located in New Hampshire. To make matters worse, in the background of the same scenes we see directional signs for "Ellenville" and "Route 199", which reveals the actual filming location of Kingston, NY.

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Quotes

'Dawn' Aviva Victor: I want to have lots and lots of babies so that way I will always have someone to love.

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Crazy Credits

In loving memory of Dawn Wiener.

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Connections

Spoofed in Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Somebody Loved"
Written by Deb Talan and Steve Tannen
Performed by The Weepies

User Reviews

weird world of Todd.

Todd Solondz returns with an excellent piece of film making in this very twisted fairy tale. It tells the story of Aviva who desperately wants to have a baby despite being very young. She craves loving attention and when not getting it at home believes that having a baby will bring her a strong enough bond to fill her emotional void. On falling pregnant after her first sexual encounter her parents insist she has an abortion, this she does but not happy she runs away from home. And so her story begins as she travels from one bizarre encounter to another, some funny and some sad. The pace of the film is pitched just right and it takes you along with the trial and tribulations of Aviva despite her being played by several different characters. This has been done to play with the audience's preconceptions of how you identify with a character depending on how they look and it works to startling effect. In between Aviva leaving home and the emotional reunion with her parents we are subjected to the seedy underbelly of Middle America within an array of characters the league of gentlemen boys would struggle to make up. Nothing seems taboo to Solondz and this makes for a refreshingly different movie experience if you can get your head around it. Shocking in places but ultimately rewarding to anyone prepared to give palindromes a chance.