Storytelling

R

Released Jan 25, 2002

1 hr. 28 min.

Comedy

Drama

List

54%

91 Reviews

Tomatometer

67%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

"Storytelling" is comprised of two separate stories set against the sadly comical terrain of college and high school, past and present. Following the paths of its young hopeful/troubled characters, it explores issues of sex, race, celebrity and exploitation. This movie is divided into a fiction and non-fiction part.

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Critics Consensus

Todd Solondz's Storytelling boasts an audacious narrative structure, but fails to deliver on the mechanics of its namesake, yielding a creative exercise that is more interested in satisfying the author's interests than the audience's investment.

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Sol B

One of my favorite movies. Brilliant and memorable.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/06/23

Full Review

Steve D

Self congratulatory and pointless.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

Dave S

A Todd Solondz movie can be challenging at the best of times. Storytelling is no exception. The movie consists of two short films, both related to the creative process and the sometimes unorthodox or unethical path to success. "Fiction" is about a young woman (Selma Blair) who aspires to be a novelist and documents the efforts she is willing to make to validate her talent. "Non-Fiction" features Paul Giamatti as a filmmaker who is shooting a documentary about a highly dysfunctional family who are destined for unimaginable tragedy, thereby guaranteeing the success of his efforts. Storytelling has all of the stylistic flourishes that make a film a distinctly Solondz movie, but where it falters is the brevity of the two pieces, not allowing for any kind of in-depth character development, ultimately giving the whole thing a bit of an empty feeling. It's not a bad movie by any means – it's just sort of unfulfilling.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

10/16/23

Full Review

jordan m

I struggled to find either storyline particularly compelling and found myself searching for what exactly it was about this movie that had led to its relatively lofty position among indie movies from 2001. The actors did their jobs well but the two storylines not intersecting each other just made them both feel incomplete in some way. By far the biggest highlight for me was the little kid in the non-fiction part; they did a great job using him to characterize the rest of the family and the child actor was effectively obnoxious.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

"Fiction" Vi (Selma Blair) is part of a group of college students in a creative writing class taught by a cynical, controversial and angry black professor (Robert Wisdom). "Non-Fiction" Toby Oxman (Paul Giamatti) is a documentary filmmaker filming a dysfunctional suburban New Jersey family as their teenage son (Mark Webber) goes through the college application process, and faces the trials and tribulations of late teenage years. The film received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes consensus reads: "Todd Solondz's Storytelling boasts an audacious narrative structure, but fails to deliver on the mechanics of its namesake, yielding a creative exercise that is more interested in satisfying the author's interests rather than the audience's involvement." It was time to re-see Todd Solondz "Storytelling" after having re-seen "Happiness" not that long ago. The film consists of two stories that are unrelated and have different actors, titled "Fiction" and "Non-Fiction". College and high school serve as the backdrop for these two stories about dysfunction and personal turmoil. The first one, "Fiction", is short and I reckon Solondz want´s to provoke as much as he can in this one pointing the finger at racist and exploitative themes, but as someone else said in IMDB it feels very underdeveloped and incomplete. Selma Blair is however quite solid as the somewhat shy and quiet Vi. The second story with Paul Giamatti as Toby Oxman starts off interesting, but is so stretched and doesn´t really engage you despite character development and backstory. Yes, there´s some turns but not in a convincing way nor credible in my book. It´s running on empty. "Storytelling" is a very uneven film and Todd Solondz way of creating films with disturbing and depressing atmospheres and themes can be a bit too narrow as he seldom offers anything else to the viewer. Trivia: The original version of the film featured a third story entitled "Autobiography", concerning, among other things, a closeted football player (James Van Der Beek). The main character has an explicit sex scene with a male partner (Steven Rosen); the entire story was cut from the final version.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

cinephile f

This film is fantastic and Lupe Ontiveros deserved an Oscar for best supporting actress. Solondz is a director for cinephiles (and not for the masses who just wish to stare a screen and be entertained.) This film is gritty in parts but explores some very important themes (that are very relevant today.) There is nothing politically correct about it so if you are easily offended, you will probably not like it. If you are open minded and look at films as art, I would recommend it 100%.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Todd Solondz

Director

Selma Blair

Vi

Leo Fitzpatrick

Marcus

Aleksa Palladino

Catherine

Robert Wisdom

Mr. Scott

Noah Fleiss

Brady Livingston

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Empire Magazine

Rated: 3/5

Dec 30, 2006

Full Review

Andrew Sarris

Observer

Despite [Solondz's] undeniable talent, however manipulative, his stories are too sour and mean-spirited for my taste.

Mar 13, 2002

Full Review

Eric Harrison

Houston Chronicle

That Storytelling has value cannot be denied. Not even Solondz's thirst for controversy, sketchy characters and immature provocations can fully succeed at cheapening it.

Rated: B+

Feb 24, 2002

Full Review

Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

There’s more than enough reason to see "Storytelling," even in the less impressive second chapter, but perhaps Solondz has drawn water from this poisoned well one time too many.

Rated: A-

Sep 17, 2022

Full Review

Jan Stuart

The Advocate

[A] ribald and welcome work of social commentary.

Jun 1, 2022

Full Review

Ryan Cracknell

Movie Views

While Solondz tries and tries hard, Storytelling fails to provide much more insight than the inside column of a torn book jacket.

Dec 19, 2010

Full Review

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Synopsis

"Storytelling" is comprised of two separate stories set against the sadly comical terrain of college and high school, past and present. Following the paths of its young hopeful/troubled characters, it explores issues of sex, race, celebrity and exploitation. This movie is divided into a fiction and non-fiction part.

Director: Todd Solondz
Executive Producer: David Linde, Amy Henkels, Michael De Luca
Screenwriter: Todd Solondz
Distributor: Fine Line Features
Production Co: Good Machine, Killer Films
Rating: R (Some Drug Use|Language|Strong Sexual Content)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 25, 2002, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 1, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $912.4K
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Surround, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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