Life During Wartime (2010)
Life During Wartime (USA) Directed by Todd Solondz Written by Todd Solondz Starring Allison Janney; Shirley Henderson; Paul Reubens; Michael K. Williams; Ciaran Hinds; Dylan Riley Snyder; Ally Sheedy ; Chris Marquette; Charlotte Rampling; Michael Lerner; Emma Hindz; Gaby Hoffman; Renee Taylor; Rich Pecci
Todd Solondz, maker of stylized, misanthropic dramas about Jewish families based in New Jersey, relocates to Florida (though filmed in Puerto Rico), taking many of his characters from Happiness (1998), and even a few whom he originated in 1995s Welcome to the Dollhouse (Mark Wiener makes his third appearance), for another offbeat ensemble piece touching upon pedophilia, self-involvement, guilt, and screwed up adults passing on their own messiness to their offspring.
Some have contended that Solondz’ work represents a deep form of humanism because he delves into aspects of our condition and psyche that many artists shy away from. Life During Wartime might even represent Solondz-lite, or at least presents a slight shift in attitude regarding ideas of forgiveness and redemption, as well as a more open and/or generous view of the possibilities of the power of healing. But to say that Solondz’ overall take on human nature has progressed, grown, eased up, or undergone some sort of metamorphosis might be something of a stretch. At most, his newest work represents a variation on well traversed territory, a continuation of the same general dialectic running throughout his career.
Following his practiced formula, Solondz parades another gruesome lineup of hard-to-like grotesques before our eyes. The central plot focuses on the three sisters from Happiness, now middle-aged and all played by different actors: simpering, vulnerable social worker Joy (Shirley Henderson); high strung, opinionated, newly in love Trish (Allison Janney); and pompous, self-involved (and now rich) screenwriter Helen (Ally Sheedy).
Trish is still ensconced in rebuilding mode following her husband Bill’s (Ciaran Hinds) incarceration years before for raping several neighborhood children. Her son Billy (Chris Marquette), now college-aged, is away at school, but younger son Timmy (Dylan Riley Snyder) represents a favorite Solondz type, the slightly effeminate, pre-pubescent adolescent racked with existential angst and a heap of questions about the world. Trish has fallen in love with an older, divorced Jewish man, Harvey (Michael Lerner), whom she describes as unattractive and not particularly well-off, but is nevertheless overjoyed by the fact that he is “normal” and not “pervy”.
Solondz excuses us from some of the more intensely excruciating moments that have marked his past films, including the younger Billy (Rufus Read) asking his creepy Dad (Dylan Baker) if he would ever rape him, though he still manages to induce some cringing (Trish relating to Timmy about getting wet when her new love interest touched her shoulder). And yet, though he hardly deviates from the thematic totems of his entire oeuvre, there is still a vaguely sanitized feel at work, or perhaps it’s merely that we have become inured against some the shocking bluntness related to Solondz’ confrontation of various taboo social topics.
There are other stylistic differences here as well, including a one scene interlude (that seems flown in from another film) involving newly released Bill’s hook-up with a self-described “monster” Jacqueline (Charlotte Rampling); and the inclusion of an abusive dream ghost, Andy (Paul Reubens), Joy’s ex who committed suicide when she broke up with him years before. These devices deviate from Solondz’s usual base of flatly rendered domestic suburban scenes populated by disaffected oddballs who exhibit various forms of arrogance, superciliousness, self-delusion, and self-destructive, nihilistic behaviors impacting those around them.
As demonstrated by his use of eight very different actors to play his female lead in the abortion-themed Palindromes, Solondz enjoys toying with the very idea of casting - perhaps, at least in part (and as obvious as it may be), a meta commentary on the dual nature of the human make-up. Here, though he peppers his cast with some renowned European actors (Hinds; Rampling; Henderson), some of the choices are indeed odd ones (e.g. African American Michael K. Williams playing a role originally inhabited by Phillip Seymour Hoffman).
Fifty one year old Todd Solondz began making fiercely independent, low budget films in the 1980s for a somewhat specialized audience. In the twenty years since his feature debut he has hardly been deterred from his initial course, continuing to explore the themes and motifs arising from the depths of his obsessions. Though his work is nothing if not an acquired taste, and the individual offerings have wavered some in terms of the precision of their execution, he remains an unapologetic outsider in a landscape increasingly dominated by those aspiring toward the mediocrity of the middle.