Review of Welcome to the Dollhouse (1996) by Kate H — 28 Apr 2008

With humor darker than your average chocolate bar Solodnz paints a portrait so believably honest of Dawn Weiner's life in seventh grade, there is really no other film about junior high you would want to be watching. Dawn (Heather Matarazzo) is a middle child down to her very core. Awkward and incredibly nerdy she sits in-between her annoyingly cute ballerina sister, Missy, and her older brother Mark, better referred to as King of Nerds. Life has thrown Dawn a bad hand, tormented by her classmates, ignored by her parents, secretly in love with the lead singer in her brothers band, and stalked by the schools local thug, it isn't a pretty ride.

Not nearly as shocking as Solodnz "Happiness", or perhaps as unusual in the undertaking as "Palindromes", yet, it is his attention to detail for this story that easily makes this his best. One of the most credible directions in the film is Solodnz restraint in over sensitizing his characters. Dawn is no Rachael Leigh Cook, when the glasses come off she will still be that gawky teen sitting on a car roof moving awkwardly to her brothers band, trying to fit in.