Five and a Half Dollar Movie Round-up
“Palindromes” is unremittingly bleak and cynical. Todd Solondz’ latest begins with the funeral of Dawn Weiner, the heroine of his earlier, funnier “Welcome to the Dollhouse.” The alluded-to date rape and suicide of his beloved character signals the film’s non-stop assault on hopefulness. His next victim is a cousin of Dawn’s, 13-year-old Aviva, who wants nothing more than to have “lots and lots of babies.” That innocent desire takes her from dispassionate, cringe-inducing underage sex to a botched abortion (at her liberal mother’s insistence) to hitchhiking and even more cringe-worthy sex with a trucker. From there, Aviva finds herself in the care of Mama Sunshine, a kind and mostly harmless christian who cares for a dozen or so disabled children who live and laugh together and sing and dance boy-band style peans to Jesus and the unborn children, while local yahoos in the basement plan the assassination of an abortion […]