Palindromes

Todd Solondz’s films are not easy to like, and they’re not really intended to be. In Welcome to the Doll House, he tormented his protagonist, the geeky teen Dawn Wiener, to hilarious effect. But we were laughing with her, not at her; it was all too easy to identify with poor Wiener Dog. Well, in his new movie, we learn that Dawn is dead. Which isn’t funny. Nor are a lot of other things in Palindromes, a divisive, over-the-top trip into bizarro world. There is some humor to be found in the shape-shifting, thirteen-year-old “heroine”–who desperately wants to be a mother and is played by eight actresses chosen for their differences in skin color, age, and size–as well as an assortment of other cracked characters. But other elements, like a houseful of children with horrible birth defects and a fundamentalist Christian plot to murder abortion doctors, are disturbing enough to make you wonder just what Solondz’s agenda is. 612-825-6006; Todd SolondzÕs films are not easy to like, and theyÕre not really intended to be. In Welcome to the Doll House, he tormented his protagonist, the geeky teen Dawn Wiener, to hilarious effect. But we were laughing with her, not at her; it was all too easy to identify with poor Wiener Dog. Well, in his new movie, we learn that Dawn is dead. Which isnÕt funny. Nor are a lot of other things in Palindromes, a divisive, over-the-top trip into bizarro world. There is some humor to be found in the shape-shifting, thirteen-year-old ÒheroineÓÑwho desperately wants to be a mother and is played by eight actresses chosen for their differences in skin color, age, and sizeÑas well as an assortment of other cracked characters. But other elements, like a houseful of children with horrible birth defects and a fundamentalist Christian plot to murder abortion doctors, are disturbing enough to make you wonder just what Solondz’s agenda is. 612-825-6006; www.landmarktheatres.com