TODD SOLONDZ
Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBBB.
USA, 1998. Good Machine, Killer Films. Screenplay by Todd Solondz. Cinematography by Maryse Alberti. Produced by Ted Hope, Christine Vachon. Music by Robbie Kondor. Production Design by Therese DePrez. Costume Design by Kathryn Nixon. Film Editing by Alan Oxman. Golden Globe Awards 1998. Gotham Awards 1999. National Board of Review Awards 1998. New York Film Critics Awards 1998. Online Film Critics Awards 1998. Toronto International Film Festival 1998.
Excellent drama that examines three sisters as they survive the hellhole life that is to be had in New Jersey. Jane Adams is the unwittingly optimistic woman who goes from one temp job to another, constantly being undone by her faith in humanity; Lara Flynn Boyle is a hugely successful writer who feels like she’s cheating the world by writing about difficult feminine issues that have never actually come her way; Cynthia Stevenson is the happily married woman who believes she has it all (and readily says so) when she has no idea that her psychiatrist husband (Dylan Baker) is doping up little boys to have sex with them. The cast is uniformly brilliant, with Baker standing out as a man you’ll try to hate but just can’t, and Louise Lasser as the girls’ mother who is having marital troubles of her own.
