If I could sit down with Todd Solondz and talk to him about any of his films it would be this one, in particular its first chapter, "Fiction." As many times as I've seen it I still don't really know what to make of it. It feels like it's about art -- which is unsafe -- being made in safe spaces. Both chapters feature a non-white person put in a position of serving privileged children and exacting a form of revenge. But I'm not sure who we're meant to empathise with.

Filme bacaninha, o roteiro é mais ou menos, o começo do filme é bacana, mas depois o filme fica fraco e não melhora até o final quando alguém entra na casa com uma chave que destrói a casa ligando o gás do fogão. Só o começo é o fim sao bons, o resto do filme é fraco.

Character’s development is on another level

This idea of ​​the film shooting technique director made the film more attractive to people.

One of my favorite movies. Brilliant and memorable.

Self congratulatory and pointless.

A Todd Solondz movie can be challenging at the best of times. Storytelling is no exception. The movie consists of two short films, both related to the creative process and the sometimes unorthodox or unethical path to success. "Fiction" is about a young woman (Selma Blair) who aspires to be a novelist and documents the efforts she is willing to make to validate her talent. "Non-Fiction" features Paul Giamatti as a filmmaker who is shooting a documentary about a highly dysfunctional family who are destined for unimaginable tragedy, thereby guaranteeing the success of his efforts. Storytelling has all of the stylistic flourishes that make a film a distinctly Solondz movie, but where it falters is the brevity of the two pieces, not allowing for any kind of in-depth character development, ultimately giving the whole thing a bit of an empty feeling. It's not a bad movie by any means – it's just sort of unfulfilling.

I struggled to find either storyline particularly compelling and found myself searching for what exactly it was about this movie that had led to its relatively lofty position among indie movies from 2001. The actors did their jobs well but the two storylines not intersecting each other just made them both feel incomplete in some way. By far the biggest highlight for me was the little kid in the non-fiction part; they did a great job using him to characterize the rest of the family and the child actor was effectively obnoxious.

"Fiction" Vi (Selma Blair) is part of a group of college students in a creative writing class taught by a cynical, controversial and angry black professor (Robert Wisdom). "Non-Fiction" Toby Oxman (Paul Giamatti) is a documentary filmmaker filming a dysfunctional suburban New Jersey family as their teenage son (Mark Webber) goes through the college application process, and faces the trials and tribulations of late teenage years. The film received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes consensus reads: "Todd Solondz's Storytelling boasts an audacious narrative structure, but fails to deliver on the mechanics of its namesake, yielding a creative exercise that is more interested in satisfying the author's interests rather than the audience's involvement." It was time to re-see Todd Solondz "Storytelling" after having re-seen "Happiness" not that long ago. The film consists of two stories that are unrelated and have different actors, titled "Fiction" and "Non-Fiction". College and high school serve as the backdrop for these two stories about dysfunction and personal turmoil. The first one, "Fiction", is short and I reckon Solondz want´s to provoke as much as he can in this one pointing the finger at racist and exploitative themes, but as someone else said in IMDB it feels very underdeveloped and incomplete. Selma Blair is however quite solid as the somewhat shy and quiet Vi. The second story with Paul Giamatti as Toby Oxman starts off interesting, but is so stretched and doesn´t really engage you despite character development and backstory. Yes, there´s some turns but not in a convincing way nor credible in my book. It´s running on empty. "Storytelling" is a very uneven film and Todd Solondz way of creating films with disturbing and depressing atmospheres and themes can be a bit too narrow as he seldom offers anything else to the viewer. Trivia: The original version of the film featured a third story entitled "Autobiography", concerning, among other things, a closeted football player (James Van Der Beek). The main character has an explicit sex scene with a male partner (Steven Rosen); the entire story was cut from the final version.

This film is fantastic and Lupe Ontiveros deserved an Oscar for best supporting actress. Solondz is a director for cinephiles (and not for the masses who just wish to stare a screen and be entertained.) This film is gritty in parts but explores some very important themes (that are very relevant today.) There is nothing politically correct about it so if you are easily offended, you will probably not like it. If you are open minded and look at films as art, I would recommend it 100%.

This movie seemed a bit jumbled trying to find its own identity and none of the pieces fit together they were more so pushed together 1.9

This movie is intense. Very original. Feels like an indie movie but has great acting and will definitely leave you thinking "wtf" for at least a couple hours after watching it.

Made fun of stereotypes in an interesting way. Worth watching.

Todd Solondz's bleak black comedy is well-acted but rather unfocused, especially during the second longer chapter. Which is a pity because several of the themes he's juggling: anti-Semitism, academia, alienation, racism, failure - are unusual subjects for comedy and well worth exploring/satirising. John Goodman is - as ever - wonderful as the patefamilias of a fracturing Jewish household subjected to the intrusive lens of Paul Giamatti's pathetic documentarian.

An somewhat confusing mix of topics and targets but always interesting. White suburban values and morals are mocked and ridiculed as has become par for the course, however Solondz does have something to say.

I saw this film before the sex scene was censored and I think the scene makes it more poignant. Great acting and writing. Hard to watch but ahead of its time.

As bold, shocking, and divisive as any of Solondz's films.

Storytelling impressed me with its balance of the dark, quirky, and even mundane views into these lives. It has a perfect sense of self-awareness, and the performances are superb as well. However, I much prefer the Nonfiction segment to the opening Fiction tale.

This is the first flick with Paul Giamotti in it that I didn't like. The stories involved such pathetic characters that I just couldn't feel any sympathy for anyone. Their lives are in a muddle because they make wrong decisions every time. You don't feel sorry for them--you just want to give them a good slap and yell them to pull themselves together and get on with life.

It is easy to see what Solondz was aiming to do here, but somehow the aim is off and the film does not work. In fact, it just feels mean and underwhelming.