From the
controversial director of Happiness comes another dark look at New Jersey,
this time broken into two separate stories. The first is a 26-minute segment
entitled "Fiction," which highlights the life of Marcus (Leo Fitzpatrick),
an aspiring writer who was born with deformities due to cerebral palsy. He
unsuccessfully tries to read a new short story to his girlfriend Vi (Selma
Blair), and leaves her after the story is similarly dismissed by his fellow
students and teacher, Mr. Scott (Robert Wisdom), a black Pulitzer Prize
winner. Vi approaches Mr. Scott in a bar one night and agrees to go home
with him, recalling a "fictional" account of their experience in the next
class. The second segment, titled "Nonfiction," follows Toby Oxman (Paul
Giamatti), a thirtysomething sad sack who gets the idea to make a
documentary of contemporary suburban teenage life. Looking for subjects, he
runs into Scooby (Mark Webber), a disaffected, dim young man who dreams of
being a TV star. Scooby's home life is highly dysfunctional, with a strict
father (John Goodman), a prim and proper mother (Julie Hagerty), a football
player brother (Noah Fleiss), and a younger brother Mikey (Jonathan Osser),
who continually chats up the family's put-upon maid Consuelo (Lupe Ontiveros).
Consuelo is soon banished from the household due to her involvement with
Mikey, becoming an outcast just like Scooby.
© AllMovie
+
Cast
Selma Blair ... Vi ('Fiction')
Leo Fitzpatrick ... Marcus ('Fiction')
Robert Wisdom ... Mr. Scott ('Fiction')
Maria Thayer ... Amy ('Fiction')
Angela Goethals ... Elli ('Fiction')
Devorah Rose ... Lucy ('Fiction')
Nancy Anne Ridder ... Joyce ('Fiction')
Steven Rosen ... Ethan ('Fiction')
Aleksa Palladino ... Catherine ('Fiction')
Mary Lynn Rajskub ... Melinda ('Fiction')
Tina Holmes ... Sue ('Fiction')
Entire castlist @
IMDB
+
Vi
Blair plays a well-meaning college writing student pulled into the
control of a teacher--and a volatile situation--far beyond her grasp.
+
Selma
says
"Todd [Solondz, the film's director] completely stripped me of things that
were Selma. He was like, "No giggles, no smiles, and you have to dye your
hair pink or blue to make it different." It was great because wardrobe
informs so much for me. With Todd, I'm stripped of my normal hair, something
that makes me feel so grounded, and he gives me a cotton-candy head and
takes my clothes off. Literally [laughs]."
"Vi actually reminded me of your Lotte [the character Diaz played in Being
John Malkovich, 1999]. I really got to be someone that no one thinks of me
as. I got into that pink hair, I took my clothes off, and I just played this
flawed girl. I wasn't really aware of acting because Todd's writing is just
so clear that it was so comfortable. Everyone's like, "Weren't you
uncomfortable doing these really controversial things?" But it felt more
real to me than trying to fit a funny in--you know, how I'll try to get a
laugh. This was a breath of fresh air."
"It was interesting to me that in the short time that we see my character,
even though the part of the movie I'm in is titled "Fiction," what we see is
so real in its description of what we do to feel comfortable in sex and
relationships."
"I want to do more movies like Storytelling. I want to do more movies that
have directors and writers who really believe in what they're doing, so I
can be fearless. Then it's not just me telling their story--it's not me at
all; I become someone else. And that's the best part of being an actor."
+ Reviews
Received 50
metascore out of
100 based on 31
reviews @
Metacritic.com
Overall grade
breakdown: A's: 7 17.5% B's: 19 47.5%
Rolling Stone
Los Angeles Times
TV Guide
More @
Rotten Tomatoes
+ Movie
Quotes
Coming soon.
+
DVD Info
Released:
July 16, 2002
Available in DVD Widescreen
Standard Edition Rated & Unrated
Bonus Material
- Original Theatrical Trailer
More info?
+ Money
talks
Domestic Total
Gross: $921,445
Foreign Total Gross: n/a
Opening Weekend: $73,688
Widest Release: 40
theaters
Production Budget: n/a
©
Box Office Mojo
+ Nominations
None.
+
Links
IMDB -
Official Site -
Wikipedia
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