In an alternate universe, with better cinema, Todd Solondz gets all the credit and attention given here to Kevin Smith. Solondz continues to reign as New Jersey's best indie director. This movie taps the same vein as Happiness and Storytelling. Not quite the sadistic beat-down of Happiness, and the sex scenes are not as "good" as Storytelling, but it will still have you feeling horrible laughing at it. Every character is unlikable in some way, and every one of them will drop at least one line that will make you groan. In the end, the messages are all positive, but you must survive through the presentation to see it. A followup to Welcome to the Dollhouse, the movie begins with Dawn Wiener's funeral. And, you guessed it, she killed herself. This one follows Aviva (played by several different actresses) through her adventures with low self-esteme, abortion gone wrong, hardcore Kansas Christians, abortion doctor killing re-born ex-cons, and a Solondz size dose of characters that reek of New Jersey in all the wrongest of ways. |