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      Palindromes

      2004, Comedy/Drama, 1h 40m

      119 Reviews 5,000+ Ratings

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      Critics Consensus

      Unique but cold. Read critic reviews

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      Palindromes  Photos

      Palindromes (2004) Palindromes (2004) Palindromes (2004) Palindromes (2004) Director Todd Solondz Alexander Brickel as Peter Paul and Sharon Wilkins as Aviva Matthew Faber as Mark Weiner Ellen Barkin as Joyce Victor and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Aviva Ellen Barkin as Joyce Victor and Hannah Freiman as Aviva

      Movie Info

      An underage girl horrifies her parents by getting pregnant, then runs away after they force her to have an abortion.

      • Genre: Comedy, Drama

      • Original Language: English

      • Director: Todd Solondz

      • Producer: Derrick Tseng

      • Writer: Todd Solondz

      • Release Date (Theaters):  limited

      • Release Date (DVD):

      • Box Office (Gross USA): $553.4K

      • Runtime:

      • Production Co: Extra Large Pictures

      • Sound Mix: Surround

      Cast & Crew

      Critic Reviews for Palindromes

      Audience Reviews for Palindromes

      • Feb 15, 2013

        I think it's a wonderful follow up to the cult classic- Welcome to the Dollhouse. It was once again, darkly humored, right from the very beginning of the film, you can already feel the macabre. Very typically Jewish but very fresh and original. Aviva is basically another Dawn, with a different storyline and different actors. I think it's quite unique in the way that 8 different actors played the same role. Also the title of the film really does get into you and you would see how clever it is. Fans would enjoy it but others may not.

        Super Reviewer
      • Feb 07, 2012

        Solondz' best move in my opinion. The use of radically different performers to play the lead is absolutely fascinating to see in action and adds to the universality of the message.

        Super Reviewer
      • Feb 08, 2011

        With "Palindromes," writer-director Todd Solondz's intentions are hard to fathom. His primary thrust seems to be an attack on anti-abortionists, but his targeted characters are so extreme (they plot to murder doctors who perform abortions) that it's grossly unfair to view them as symptomatic of the movement. But at the same time, he offers little reason to support his protagonist Aviva. (Her name is a palindrome, get it?) She's dim-witted, malleable and listless, and Solondz further distances us from her by having 10 (10!) different actresses portray her throughout the film. And sorry to say, the most prominent of them is deeply unappealing. He costumes most of them in an ugly, belly-baring top, besides. So, where do our sympathies lie? The only appealing character is a young boy named Peter Paul, but he eventually turns out to be just another fanatic. Bad vibes everywhere. "Palindromes" is a sequel of sorts to Solondz's watershed "Welcome to the Dollhouse," and it opens with the funeral of that film's Dawn Wiener, who apparently killed herself after being impregnated by a date rapist. Cheery stuff -- thanks for the closure. We also discover she became overweight and acne-riddled, so that's a bonus. At least one character does recur from "Dollhouse": Dawn's brother Mark (Matthew Faber), now a peculiar man accused of child molestation. Otherwise, we're introduced to Aviva, a 13-year-old girl who has no interest in sexual pleasure but desperately yearns to be pregnant. When a naive friend inadvertently obliges her (they have sex within hours of meeting, while their parents chat downstairs), Aviva's parents (Ellen Barkin and Richard Masur, in thankless roles) demand she get an abortion. After the procedure has sad complications that Aviva doesn't even realize (so, is Solondz pro-choice or not?), she runs away from home and meets various distasteful people who do her no good. Along the way, a degree of perverse entertainment is provided by "The Sunshine Singers," a fictional group of handicapped/diseased children who sing and dance creepy, Christian-pop tunes. Just wait until the "Glee" crowd discovers this film.

        eric b Super Reviewer
      • Jul 07, 2010

        Its a kind of shotgun approach to satire and social commentary. Its all over the place, but I respect the audaciousness of Solondz for trying something so out there and mostly succeeding.

        Super Reviewer

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