Palindromes

So what is this one about?
Netflix's description of

Thirteen-year-old Aviva Victor (Sharon Wilkins) desperately wants to become a mother -- and she comes very close to succeeding. But just in the nick of time, her sensible parents (Ellen Barkin and Richard Masur) intervene. Still determined to get pregnant, Aviva skips out and finds herself lost in a strange new world. It's a broadening experience for Aviva, one that can't help but change her profoundly. Todd Solondz directs.

is accurate, but it left out a bizarre cinematic choice that Solondz made that suprised me so much it practically ruined the film for me.

And how much did I pay to watch?
It was part of my monthly Netflix.

And what did I think?
Well, ok, first things first. The film opens with the death, or funeral rather of everyone's favorite weirdo...Dawn Weiner. You know, from Welcome to the Dollhouse, Solondz's ridiculously awesome movie with classic lines like "3 o'clock. I'm going to rape you." and "Just because he's stupid doens't mean he's an asshole." and "The special people club? Special people means retarded. Your club...its for retards." I mean, what a real tragedy, right?

Then the next scene is Ellen Barkin talking to her daughter, who is black--with two white parents I assumed she was supposed to be adopted. But then in the next scene she is a white girl who is a red-head. So I'm thinking, ok, I guess maybe they're foster parents or something. Then in the next scene she is a white chubby girl with curly brown hair. Ok...what the hell is going on? When I check imdb I found no information to help with my confusion. It was only today (after watching the movie last night) that I found a review on Slate.com that explains the different actresses (and apparently, actor). They say, "Let me describe Aviva. She's black, heavy, skinny, white, and redheaded. She's also a boy. Plus, she's Jennifer Jason Leigh. Which is to say that Solondz has cast her with seven different actors to encourage us to identify with her regardless of our race or body type—and, on an even deeper level, to suggest the immutability of personality." UM. Right.

I guess the movie was the type of dark comedy dealy that we can expect from Solondz...and there were reappearances by characters from Welcome to the Dollhouse but frankly I pulled no message from the film.

So what is the rating? (out of 10)
I gave this a 2 on Netflix (their scale is out of 5) so it would be a 4 on this scale. But I think I may give it a 3. Really it wasn't that great and I didn't really like it. I wouldn't watch it again, but I don't regret seeing it. (I've only ever watched one movie that I regretted seeing...and I'll talk about it on another entry).

So, I'm gonna stick with a 3 for this one.