STORYTELLING (2001). A BIZZEE Pick.

Hello WORLD!!! I haven’t done a movie review in a minute but since I’ve been movie going a lot lately, I figured I better pick up the pace a little. I just seen SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD, a great movie with a great cast. A few of the cast members stand out for various reasons. One of the uncredited cameos was Clifton Collins Jr, who played the drug dealer Rupert in RULES OF ATRACTION and Cuba Gooding Jr’s partner in DIRTY. His role was very short but funny in here and I’m surprised I spotted him. Another familiar face was Mark Webber, who played Steven “The Talent” in SCOTT PILGRIM. I’ll admit it took me a minute to place his face though; after doing a bit of research, I found out he starred in a little known movie called LIFE IS HOT IN CRACKTOWN (not bad but it won’t be a BIZZEE pick either) which also starred his SCOTT PILGRIM costar Brandon Routh. Doing a little more research, I found the movie which I knew and respected for: Todd Solondz 2001 masterpiece, STORYTELLING.

What can I say about this movie? Well I saw it one night not knowing anything about it or the director but I was hooked from the beginning. It is a movie of two separate tales. The first tale, simply titled FICTION is a about a college student named Vi (a young Selma Blair) with a handicap boyfriend (Larry Clark’s KIDS villain Leo Fitzpatrick, showing a little depth) who has an argument with him regarding their teacher, played wisely without any type of emotion by Robert Wisdom (no pun intended). Right after the argument, Vi runs into the same teacher and that’s where this tale turns weird. Anything else about this half of the movie is a spoiler but if you have heard anything about it, it’s the scene that this scene sets up, which may be brutal for some of the audience (I won’t say who). As a writer I can not think of a better more satisfying ending than the one that occurs here.

The first story was called FICTION but it dealt with non fiction. The second, longer story is called NON FICTION but it might as well be fiction. The always enjoyable Paul Giamatti is a film maker who has plans on releasing a documentary on a high school student named Scooby (PILGRIM’s Mark Webber). In the scenes with his parents, John Goodman is hilarious. Documentary turns out to be a hit, but not how Scooby expects it and THEN tragedy hits in the most unlikely of ways. Look, I don’t recommend any bullshit, but I guarantee that one of these stories, if not both, will have you discussing it the next day. Definitely a must see. That’s it for now, WORLD, but I’m sure it’s enough for now!