Storytelling is the latest film from Todd Solondz, director of Welcome to the Dollhouse and Happiness. Like those two films, Storytelling confronts sensitive issues with an almost uncomfortable frankness. Its first section, “Fiction,” deals with a female college student and her relationships with her boyfriend and creative writing professor, both of whom are minorities. Its [non-related] second section, “Nonfiction,” tells the story of a documentarian who strives to create a shocking film about a wealthy suburban Jewish family. Your reviewers, Ben and Daniel, recently saw Storytelling at the Uptown Theater. Here are some of their thoughts:

Ben: First off, I think it’s vital that we review this movie differently than most other critics have. Most essays on Todd Solondz place a higher priority on listing his various shock tactics than on what the sentiments behind them might be. But if we turn the review into a laundry list of its shocks, we’ll reduce the movie to little more than a freak show, when I think that it’s after something nobler than that.

Daniel: Well, generally, I try to judge whether or not an audience will appreciate a movie, but I can’t do that here. This movie, more than most, can be interpreted in many ways, and will instill a wide variety of emotions in any audience. The best advice I can give moviegoers is to stay away if you don’t possess a dark sense of humor and/or cynical outlook on life. That being said, I found this to be a good, if not great, movie.

Ben: And I’d agree one hundred percent. One thing I admire most about Todd Solondz is that his films simply feel like provocations while you watch them but then become more profound after the fact. I remember being really turned off by Happiness when I first saw it because the graphic approach to perversity and loneliness seemed to undercut his social satire. In Storytelling, he unflinchingly confronts politically correct expectations of ethnic groups and the disabled, but also has the courage to do so with humor. As a result, the satire made me feel pretty uncomfortable, but in a cleansing way. I could often identify with Solondz’s anger. The setting of “Nonfiction” reminded me a lot of the town I grew up in.

Daniel: It’s true that this movie is bitingly satirical, and that stands as one of its better qualities. But I still have issues with Solondz’s intentions. Happiness took a broad shot at contemporary suburban life, but it still treated its characters with a certain affection. In Storytelling, it often seems as though Solondz is merely setting up straw targets to shoot down with ease. In his rush to create satire, he neglects character development. These characters aren’t real people, and the audience feels sorry for them when they are inevitably humiliated.

Ben: But that’s part of the point, and Solondz seems fully prepared for the criticism he’s going to receive. In “Nonfiction” Solondz goes so far as to have the documentarian brandished with the same critiques that he himself has received and then let the audience decide for themselves what they think of him. Many of the other characters are similarly ambiguous: Not only are they stereotypes, but Solondz pushes their stereotypical traits so far beyond a comfortable level that the audience can’t look away. And, of course, Solondz wants his critics to do the same.

Daniel: At times, though, the whole movie seems like an excuse for him to mock his critics. We feel nothing genuine for the characters because they seem to exist only to get a message across. The rest of our responses are restricted to our opinions of Todd Solondz, the storyteller. I think that’s the one thing that keeps Storytelling from being a truly great movie.

Ben: But since Solondz consistently mixes feelings of pity with malice, the message of his film is never all that clear. Because of that, I think I need some more time to reflect on this movie and come to terms with what it tells me about my own prejudices. All I know right now is that Storytelling made me feel something-and feel it strongly-which is one of its greatest accomplishments.

Daniel: Maybe to mimic the effect, we could conclude the review by compiling a long list of offensive phrases and force the readers of The Mac Weekly to decide what they think of us.

Ben: Good idea. OK, here we go: