Review of Palindromes (2005) by Mistress Genevieve B — 13 Apr 2011
Whether you're watching a Todd Solondz (Welcome To The Dollhouse, Happiness, Storytelling) backwards to forwards, they're still the same either way: they rub our faces in the grotesque, not the physical kind, but the psychological and emotional kind.
Palindromes is no less powerful or nerve-frying. In it Solondz casts eight actors to portray Aviva, a pregnant thirteen-year-old girl who leaves her home after her mother (Ellen Barkin, superb) convinces her to have an abortion.
The eight actors range from Emani Sledge, six-years-old, to Jennifer Jason Leigh, even to a pre-teen boy (Will Denton) and an overweight black woman (Sharon Wilkins). Gimmicky to be sure, it mostly works, particularly when a truck driver picks Aviva up and screws her, then takes her to Mama Sunshine (Debra Monk), a Christian woman who cares for disabled children and preaches death to those she calls wicked, especially abortionists.
Solondz takes moral hypocrisy to task, and even though he goes a bit too far, it's no less provocative or worth talking about.
This review of Palindromes (2005) was written by Mistress Genevieve B on 13 Apr 2011.
Palindromes has generally received positive reviews.
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