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

1 nomination.

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:

interracial sex | crying | television show | watching tv | high school | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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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 [United States]

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 USA:

$73,688, 27 January 2002, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$912,442, 24 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

One of the characters asks Toby Oxman if the documentary he's making can get into Sundance. Previously, Todd Solondz got a Grand Jury prize for his film Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995).

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Goofs

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

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Quotes

[Marty and Mikey sit by the comatose Brady, who lies in his own bed]
Mikey Livingston: Dad? Do you think that Brady will ever get better?
Marty Livingston: One in a million recover.
Mikey Livingston: Maybe he's that one in a million.
Marty Livingston: Mikey, there's optimism, and then there's stupidity. It's a very fine line.
Mikey Livingston: [pause] I don't think there's any hope, either. I was just trying to make you feel better.

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Connections

References The Oprah Winfrey Show (1984)

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Soundtracks

Ooh.... Aah
Performed by Jakki O
Written by Barry White, Fleming Williams, Jackie Milligan
Published by Seven Songs and Me-Benish Music
Administered by Schroeder International LLC
Used by Permission, International Copyright Secured Courtesy of
Original Sound Record Co., Inc.
by Arrangement with Celebrity Licensing, Inc.

User Reviews

Setting yourself up for depression...

Watching anything by Todd Solondz is going to make you awfully depressed. Not because his films are bad, but because they are so good, and there is hardly anything like them out there today. Watching Storytelling in the theater was a blessing, but afterwards, my friends and I could only feel completely depressed! If you've never experienced Solondz's magic, this film can leave you a bit more uplifted, as you have Welcome to the Dollhouse and Happiness still left to explore. But if you've already seen these films, watching Storytelling can only make you feel bad, like a quickie, it's so good then when it's over, poof, you're bored and you want something else just like it, but different. I wish Todd Solondz made more films, but sadly after you watch those three, you're done, and it's back to putting up with dumpsters of celluloid garbage for the next year or two until his next film. I mean let's face it; where else are you going to find a great performance from John freakin' Goodman!

Sadly though, I find it hard to convince certain TYPES of people as to why Solondz's work is so good. I try to tell them the writing is award-winning and beyond most failed attempts at culture critique. I try and tell them how good the performances are. I even try and point out some fantastic themes out of the multitude available in his work. But these certain types, they just can't seem to get it.

But on the bright side, the one thing that does give me a boast about Storytelling is Conan O'Brien. Now, it's not the fact that he's here, but how he fits in, it's like there are people out there that do NOT understand Conan or his humor at all, they just don't get HIM altogether. Then there are those, such as myself, that completely understand Conan and all his self-deprecation. How can you not love a character like Scooby that wants to be Conan's sidekick??? Is this NOT the dream of every self-deprecating teenager and college student?!? Being able to simple make that point in a film, as Solondz does so perfectly during that scene with Scooby and Conan, right after the proverbial gay pseudo blow-job, is something most auteur's can't ever GET AT. This is why it's depressing watching the film, you see how brilliant this man is and how clearly he can speak his mind and say to you: "I hear YOU, I feel this way, and I know you do too, and this is here for US to enjoy, not just something for everyone." Some people say Art is something everyone can universally appreciate. Others say it is completely subjective. I think it can in fact be both ways. You can look at Storytelling or actually Happiness is better for this as formulaic, or formal art, the technical way the film is put together is brilliant, that's its universal art. The thematics, the way the auteur says what's directly on his mind in a way that a certain kind of person is immediately able to grasp a hold of firmly, that's the other kind, the subjective kind. This man understands communication, let alone life, like very very VERY few writers and directors ever have and ever will.