December 18, 2005
MarkBernstein.org
 

Palindromes

A very strange, challenging, and possibly brilliant movie about a 13-year-old who wants a baby. The protagonist is played by a bunch of different actors. One of the thirteen year olds, if I'm reading the credits right, is Jennifer Jason Leigh. I watched the scene twice, and I think it's almost, just possibly, true. (Update: It is true: she pulls off an extended scene in which she plays a girl a third her age.) Lots of good performances.

I'm about to bail out on my 'rating' system; not only is it too coarse, but there's just no way I'm able to decide whether this is a nice little movie with a clever trick -- Memento, say -- or a great little movie -- Manhattan, or Fried Green Tomatoes. I'll know in a couple of years whether I want to see it again, but I don't see a good way to judge that now. Fortunately, I can sit on the fence.

Update: David Golding responds. The solution might be to create a two-dimensional glyph -- shape plus color, maybe. More information might be better.