Storytelling

Genuinely amazing. Says so much about the creative process while also being incredibly effective as a Solondz dark comedy. The scene where Vi reads out her short story is perhaps one of my favourite ever.

While periodically very funny, and engaging throughout, something just didn't add up in this film. The absence of a likeable character is at first interesting and fun, but too soon becomes a painful exercise in seeing how inappropriate characters can be. The younger brother in the 'non-fiction' section is particularly guilty here. However, Giamatti is as watchable as ever, and I was left with a feeling that the film wanted to say something, but couldn't get the words out.

Brilliant and funny attack on the American indie scene that was flourishing (and has basically gone mad now) where your personal life is enough to make a story worthwhile. I would love to see the reception to something like this coming out of the A24 adjacent American film scene and the fire it would cause.

Very Solondz, interesting themes, but not as good of an execution

Once you start writing it all becomes fiction.

Took me until the ending of the Fiction story to really vibe with this, but that ending and the Nonfiction ending are astonishing. Solondz is a master of the macabre and sometimes flirts with taboo subjects just for the humour, but other times cruelly inspects more important topics like lying and aspirations with a solidly post-Columbine post-'90s level of cynicism. I'm not a fan of the music, but the writing is (as the title demands) incredible and only as self-reflexive as you want it to be.

Do not think you're without responsibility.

66.500

Top badass moment? I'm not for a moment suggesting it's something anyone else should look to emulate and she was a bit of a nutter on the quiet, but Consuelo's way of dealing with unemployment was an interesting and radical departure from the norm. A definite bit of thinking outside the box badassness. 1 cat, no chainsaws or decapitations. A lovely grey and black stripy cat gets a brief bit of 'lap-action', but overall I felt it was very underutilised. A wasted opportunity.

Amazing

Pure Solondz.

What I learned from this movie: the subtle differences between fiction and non-fiction, the emptiness of the lives of common Americans...and to never piss off an El Salvadorian housemaid.

trashy af

A pathetic attempt of creating a second version of Donnie Darko. The sociopathic family is dull, and hypnotizing is just embarrassing. The only thing that does make it worth watching is the meaning of rape.

All points for fiction. So dark, so so so dark (that even i would comment on it says a lot)

The "fiction" storyline could have been longer I feel, though the sex scene and story read out were great. The "non-fiction" is the meatiest and most intriguing part as it peers into the common American teenagers thoughts and satires the adult point of view.

"Fear permeates the whole of Storytelling, Todd Solondz' oftentimes funny, yet ultimately cowardly autocritique." - Ed Gonzalez

Todd Solenz has such a view on things...depressing to the point of darkly amusing. This movie is not his best work but oh lord he pushes the boundaries again esp. the Selma Blair love making scene with the black man and what she starts having to say...and the scene where the woman tells a kid what rape is...this movie is not for everyone

Amusing and worth a look if you like Solondz.

Some reviewer or another described this as "a big ol' bucket of misanthropy". Well, that's exactly what I've always liked about Todd Solondz

Score is primarily for the second story, though the first is not without its charm I guess. That is probably not the right word.

More misanthropic fun from Solondz. Less focused and not as hilarious as his other works but I still thought it was great.

Either you go in for this sort of intellectual junk or you don't. As a story about storytelling, i think it was quite interesting, and not unentertaining as a movie with plots & characters stuff. At least it's not pretentious, which would be an easy trap.

Enjoyable.

A wonderful meta-commentary on the art of storytelling and its effects.

Hey Solondz, you can't shock me, man...

Being the first Solondz flick I ever saw, I didn't know what to expect. Well, it makes you feel awkward, it challenges -- no, dares -- you to laugh and it's a solid movie through and through.

Uncomfortable and tense - typical Solondz. Although it's no Happiness, it's pretty good. I wish 'fiction' was a bit longer though. I dug the Belle and Sebastian as well.

where is the cumshot?

I definitely prefer act one to act two. I think "fiction" does a better job preserving its bleak tone whereas "nonfiction" occasionally diffuses the mood with absurd humor. While I still like each act, I would have preferred it if Solondz expanded "fiction" a little more.

I was confident enough that I'd like this movie to buy the DVD sight unseen. What a mistake. At the time, I named it the worst movie I'd ever seen. Also -- the movie was marketed as having this cool Belle & Sebastian soundtrack, which was pretty misleading. I lost any faith I had in Todd Solondz after this one.

It feels like You, Me and Everyone We Know set in the world of Elephant. And this is in no ways at all a bad thing.

Dull movie

Another good effort from Solondz. Shockingly brutal but darkly funny too.

Fascinating. Not sure if the segments balance entirely, as "Fiction" is more interesting than "Non-Fiction," but enthralling throughout.

The "Fiction" segment seems out of place, though the second "Non-Fiction" segment is brilliant. Even though both segments were wonderfully shaped in a small amount of time, "Fiction" suffered because the attachement with the audience only lasts about fifteen minutes.

Everyone says, this is Todd Salondz's downfall , it's too long, blahdee blue, blah dee blee. But c'mon, this is a good movie. Just for Tod, it's one of his weaker ones but in general it's nice and wrong in so many ways. Tod loves wrong. Todd always has strong, strong characters. I especially appreciated the over politically correct character that Selma Blair plays in the first story. She fucks her black lecturer because she doesn't want to reject him and be seen as a 'racist' even t

Thoughtful, witty and of course outrageous... Solondz's best film.

This is one of those movies, that not only sucks, but annoyingly promotes itself as an intellectual film. ugh.

A bit too reponsive towards his critics, Todd Solondtz nevertheless packs a lot of laughs and some sharp insight into the creative process through this comedy.

Was only watching for the "orange box..."

While it isn't the genius that is Happiness, it is still a fine little film.

The movie is good enough. Watching tiny Selma Blair get pounded from behind by a huge balck man makes this a must see

Some tense and profoundly uncomfortable scenes, typical of Solondz. I liked it.