13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"You are the cutest little bundle of love in the whole world", October 1, 2005
This review is from: Palindromes (DVD)
There's a lot going on in Palindromes, a morality complex film, that like a palindrome looks at the two sides of the incendiary and complex abortion debate. It's a dark movie, not because of what happens in it - child molestation, a botched abortion, teenage pregnancy and murder - but because director Todd Solondz seems to be intent on implicating everyone.
The film is also notable for the fact that eight different actors play Aviva in separate chapters: the plump black girl at the beginning of the movie is replaced by a chubby brunet, then by a slim redhead, another brunet, a young boy, an obese African American woman and, finally, by Jennifer Jason Leigh
The movie begins with Aviva, (Victor Emani Sledge), saying that all she wants is to have as many babies as possible so she'll always have someone to love. This Aviva is a chubby black girl whose tongue flops out of her mouth when she speaks. Her neurotic but liberally minded mother Joyce (Ellen Barkin) comforts her but doesn't really take her that seriously until she gets to her teenage years and sets out to make pregnancy happen.
Aviva's first opportunity presents itself in the form of Judah (Robert Agri), who later changes his name to Otto (John Gemberling), the porn-obsessed son of her parents' friends. Judah obliges her request, and things get worse from there. When her mom discovers that she is pregnant, she's taken straight to the abortion clinic. But Aviva Escapes the clutches of her parents and hitches a ride out of town with pedophilic trucker Joe (Stephen Adly Guirgis), eventually spending the night with him in a roadside motel.
Aviva eventually ends up in the care of Mama Sunshine (Debra Monk), a Christian woman whose husband Bo (Walter Bobbie) and family physician, Dr. Dan (Richard Riehle) plan assassinations of abortionists in their basement. But Aviva is happy in the care of Mama Sunshine, who as also has taken in a group of handicapped, unwanted children, and turned them into a Christian singing group.
Just like Aviva's name, the Victors and Sunshines are forward and backward versions of the same thing - they are Palindromes. What is so effective about this movie is that Solondz doesn't pass judgment on any of his characters, even though you get the sense that he's constantly supporting the underdog.
As depressing as it is hard to watch, Palindromes is also consistently, horrifyingly funny and sharp-witted, and the darker, mordent and more well-observed its humor, the more it seems to contradict the director's unsentimental, even grudging empathy for his fellow humans.
The movie is rife with symbolism and circular meaning: Joyce tells Aviva that she may have a deformed child who is blind and without arms, but later in the film Mama Sunshine's children are all either physically or mentally disabled. There's also Joyce's line about "getting rid of Henry," her aborted second child, that makes her momentarily sound like the hit man who will kill her abortionist. Peter Paul (the amazing Alexander Brickel) offers Mama Sunshine's "Jesus' tears," cookies that are shaped like sperm. The Sunshine kids also parallel the unborn fetuses their Mama retrieves from a local dump and buries.
As usual, Solondz proves that he's one of America's most distinctive directors, and he uses this unique device to carry forth a story that touches on many emotional subjects. Some chapters work better than others with the "Mama Sunshine" Aviva, played by the obviously adult, black, and quite large Sharon Wilkins, coming across as the most complex and interesting of the film's many parts.
If Aviva is fundamentally incorruptible, it's not because she's innocent but because, like her name, she's essentially the same any way you look at her. Wherever she goes, however she looks, there she is, doomed or destined to trace the same patterns. At the end of the film, just as at the beginning, she still wants to have lots and lots of babies, having learnt absolutely nothing from her experiences. Mike Leonard September 05.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I thought it was great...., June 2, 2006
This review is from: Palindromes (DVD)
I have to disagree with some of the reviews. First of all, this isn't Solondz best work, but the effort, the storyline, the theme-- AMAZING.
I'm not one whose very "thorough" (you can read other reviews for that.) but if you are craving a movie that makes you think about life, love and/or even about change, SEE THIS MOVIE. Yes, at times there is a bit of comedy (some jokes fall pretty flat), but if you look a little deeper, you can definitely see what Solondz was trying to accomplish.
The ending, on the otherhand, was pretty much disturbing.
It definitely made me think.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
