Christina Reviews *Palindromes*

          Palindromes is a semi-sequel to the Todd Solondz independent cult classic Welcome to the Dollhouse.  The movie opens with Dawn Wiener's funeral.  She committed suicide.  For those who aren't in the know, Dawn Wiener is the awkward 12 year old outcast from Welcome to the Dollhouse. 

        After the funeral, we are introduced to Dawn's younger cousin Aviva.  Aviva is a peculiar thirteen-year-old child. Her ultimate dream is to become a mother.  She is so excited to become a mother that she decides she doesn't want to wait until she's a little older.  She has sex and gets pregnant.  Her mother forces her to have an abortion, and Aviva runs away.  The rest of the movie is about her physical and emotional journey and how she inevitably ends up back to where she began.

        Aviva is played by multiple actresses throughout the movie, and she is even played by a young male actor and a grown Jennifer Jason Leigh.  Who knows what point Todd Solondz was trying to make, other than the fact that it was clearly a very artistic one.  Regardless of the race, sex or age of the actor playing Aviva, the story is the same.  It's the same frontwards and backwards.  And that is what palindromes are all about.

        I liked the satirical elements to the movie.  Todd Solondz is one of my favorite directors.  His movies are always very twisted.  They're a portrait of the darker side of surburbia.