Palindromes (2005)
Directed by Todd Solondz
Aviva is thirteen, awkward and sensitive. Her mother Joyce is warm and loving, as is her father, Steve, a regular guy who does have a fierce temper from time to time. The film revolves around her family, friends and neighbors.
3 connections found
View:
3 connections, in both directions
What critics compared Palindromes to
An introduction like the wedding dinner from Tod Browning's popularly misunderstood Freaks segues into a set-piece in which Mama's children invite Aviva (now played by a morbidly obese black woman) to join them in singing songs.
From its grotesque portrait of a household of born-again Christians ("Freaks" without the compassion) to its casting of an obese girl as one of the Avivas, "Palindromes" reeks of Solondz's trademark nastiness, reveling in a childish ability to shock the viewer.
Their production numbers are both funny and acutely uncomfortable: casting actors with real disabilities is nothing new, but collecting them into a horrendously tacky showbiz exercise can't help bringing to mind Tod Browning's 1932 circus story Freaks.
At a few points, I found myself chuckling at this brand of horror, for it reminded me of such classics as Happiness or Palindromes (in a twist, Ari Aster looks like a young Todd Solondz).
(Matarazzo went on to become a sweetly geeky character player with roles in Saved! and The Princess Diaries.