Since they first started a hundred years ago, filmmakers have shown human beings to be good creatures, if not God's creatures. Sure, there would be some bad people, the villains, usually broadly drawn and put on screen to counter the good and noble qualities of the film's protagonist. But the center of the film was always based on the seemingly innate knowledge that humans are basically good. The baddies, the troublemakers were an aberration. Even when it was a situation of a lot of baddies, it was usually because they were misled by some evil force. We humans are good deep down. We have our history, our society, our culture, our laws, our lofty ambition, our high ideals and our good hearts. And the most important thing of all: We love.
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Every Todd Solondz film I've seen so far spits directly on all this. He shows us what a farce it all is. What's most impressive is that he does it with characters and dialogue we recognize, not some far-fetched monsters. Everyone is full of shit. Upon watching a Solondz film, every viewer can't help but wonder, "Am I full of shit too?"
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Solonndz' latest film is a loose sequel to his 1998 masterpiece Happiness. Takes place about 10 years later but he didn't have any of the actors reprise their roles, probably for some artistic reason. Not that this cast isn't good. Shirley Henderson has a voice that can make the most passive man want to jump up, pull all his hair out of his head and run to the hills but it only reinforces the Joy character. Former Brat Packer, Ally Sheedy keeps her crazy eyes in check long enough to portray an Emmy-winning, self-important, man-eating bitch, Helen. We are even treated to a tormented and touching performance by Paul Ruebens. The entire cast did a fine job of delivering Todd Solondz' polite but brutal dialogue.
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Yes, polite brutality is the way I'd summarize the work of Todd Solondz. There's plenty of it here in Life During Wartime. However, I don't consider this his best work. It seemingly has all the elements but just isn't as memorable as Happiness or Storytelling. It might also be a little confusing to viewers who aren't paying full attention. Of course, the viewer wont be as confused as little Timmy, who asks in the film, "Are pedophiles terrorists?" His mom, while not directly answering that question does assure him, "Don't worry Timmy, you'll never be gay. I'll make sure you'll never be gay and nobody will never, ever put anything in you."
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