Storytelling -- R\nStarring: Selma Blair, Robert Wisdom, Paul Giamatti, Mark Webber\nDirected by: Todd Solondz\nNow Playing: Showplace East 11\nYou know you've seen a good movie when you don't want to leave the theater after it's done. You just keep sitting in your chair, hoping that the credits rolling up the screen are a test to get the riff-raff out of the theater in order to show the real ending to those who really understood the movie. Well, this was one of those movies.\nTodd Solondz's "Storytelling" is another perfect example of his ("Welcome to the Dollhouse" and "Happiness") talent for his medium. The film is divided into two parts, "Fiction" and "Nonfiction." "Fiction" takes place in 1985 on a college campus. Vi (Selma Blair) and her boyfriend Marcus (Leo Fitzpatrick) who has cerebral palsy, are both students in a creative writing class taught by the disgruntled Professor Scott (Robert Wisdom). A Pulitzer prize winner among average intelligence and a black man on what seems to be a mostly white campus, Professor Scott messes with his students' minds both in the classroom and in the bedroom (his female students, that is). \n"Nonfiction" tells the story of Toby (Paul Giamatti), a documentary filmmaker who chooses Scooby (Mark Webber), to be the main subject of his documentary on the changing face of high school in America. Scooby, a senior in high school, faces the familial pressure to stay on the right path by taking the SATs and going to college. Family dynamics and conflicts are fully fleshed out, inside and outside of Toby's documentary.\nI cannot say enough good things about this film. The plots for each part were perfect and despite their short length, the characters were fully developed. There was a perfect balance of comedy and drama. The characters were open entry points for practically anyone with an open mind. You could clearly see where the director came up with the titles for each segment. \nThe acting was so good in this movie, there was not one character that did not seem believable. These actors had a short time to convince the audience of their authenticity, which they all did quite successfully. Blair, Fitzpatrick and Wisdom gave fantastic performances and had great chemistry. The family in "Nonfiction" worked so well it was almost scary. They reminded me of at least five of the Jewish families our family was friends with through our temple. They had that suburban Jewish family dynamic down to the last detail. They even had the "white t-shirt" picture on the wall in the family room. Almost every Jewish home in Cleveland (including mine) has that family portrait of the entire family in white T-shirts and jeans against the white background. Every single actor in this segment was at the top of his or her game.\nI want to congratulate Solondz on making another brilliant piece of cinema and I encourage everyone to go see this film. It is a wonderful change of pace from the flat films that have been crowding the screen lately.\n
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