Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Heather Matarazzo | ... | Dawn Wiener | |
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Victoria Davis | ... | Lolita |
Christina Brucato | ... | Cookie | |
Christina Vidal | ... | Cynthia | |
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Siri Howard | ... | Chrissy |
Brendan Sexton III | ... | Brandon McCarthy (as Brendan Sexton Jr.) | |
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Telly Pontidis | ... | Jed |
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Herbie Duarte | ... | Lance |
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Scott Coogan | ... | Troy |
Daria Kalinina | ... | Missy Wiener | |
Matthew Faber | ... | Mark Wiener | |
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Josiah Trager | ... | Kenny |
Ken Leung | ... | Barry | |
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Dimitri DeFresco | ... | Ralphy (as Dimitri Iervolino) |
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Rica Martens | ... | Mrs. Grissom |
Seventh-grade is no fun. Especially for Dawn Weiner when everyone at school calls you 'Dog-Face' or 'Wiener-Dog.' Not to mention if your older brother is 'King of the Nerds' and your younger sister is a cutesy ballerina who gets you in trouble but is your parents' favorite. And that's just the beginning--her life seems to be falling apart when she faces rejection from the older guy in her brother's band that she has a crush on, her parents want to tear down her 'Special People's Club' clubhouse, and her sister is abducted.... Written by Tad Dibbern <DIBBERN_D@a1.mscf.upenn.edu>
WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE (1996) **** Heather Matarazzo, Brian Sexton Jr., Eric Mabius, Matthew Faber, Daria Kalinina, Angela Pietropinto. Easily one of the best independent films ever produced. Matarazzo is brilliant perfection as 11 year old Dawn Wiener - Wiener Dog - who is trying desperately to survive the 7th grade NJ suburban hell with her existence as a gawky, nerdy yet smarter- than-the-rest protagonist facing every conceivable roadblock to hurdle including a dimwitted hunky high schooler and a seemingly threatening classmate (Sexton who is also great) who can't decide if he wants to "rape" her. Heartbreaking and all too close to the bone perfectly realized depiction of how judgemental we all are and just how harrowing adolescence really is. Dare not to be angered when her self-indulgent mother takes away her cake at the dinner table while the rest of the monstrous family greedily eat their desserts. Black comedy satire and documentarian genres blending seamlessly to a genuine masterpiece of poignancy sharply observant parable of anomie and angst by writer and director Todd Solondz (who won the Best Picture prize at Sundance). Wickedly funny and dead on accurate.