Palindromes

The caricatures in Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness and Storytelling put you at a comfortable remove from the fucked-up bits of your own life, the things you'd rather not admit to. They were strange and jagged but precise. When they were cruel, when they got hurt, it was easy to enjoy because they were allowed little warmth. In Palindromes, the laughs are smothered and muted by cloyingly well-intentioned characters. Ellen Barkin slathers on the sweet motherhood—Mrs. Wiener, in Welcome to the Dollhouse, was just flat-out shrill, even when loving. Palindromes seldom lets you step back for a laugh; the characters enfold you with their self-referential joy and goodness, even if the only appropriate thing to do is hate them.

Scott's Arbitrary Judgment: Damn good.

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