Life During Wartime (2010)

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Pedophilia, Solondz's lifelong obsession, strikes again. Pedophilia peppered with hot lashes of steamy incestuous insinuations? Even better, as far as he is concerned; that REALLY gets Todd's blood going. I can half-picture him (not that I want to) masturbating while he writes these pervy "artistic" indie screenplays. Could it be that this weak, ugly little delta male has been tortured by wet-dreams and lonely man-on-boy illegal porn films his whole adult life? Perhaps not; he insists he only uses the subject "as a metaphor". Solondz is a talented film-maker, highly original, and funny – when he wants to be. I'd prefer not to think of him as a pervert asking society to show more kindness toward child-molesters, as if Western society hasn't already lost itself in its futile/laughable attempts to deny the existence of inherent evil. (You know those bewildered Marxists: society causes evil, not individuals themselves.)Did Todd want LDW to be funny? I hope not, for our sake; because if this is what his humour has developed into, there's little to expect from his next movies. In that sense he reminds me of Mike Leigh, whose themes and style are similar. Leigh used to make funny comedy/dramas (a difficult feat), but eventually got too serious, far too pretentious, eventually dropping comedy altogether in favour of dreary, preachy drama. Or did I mean to say lazy? Drama is easier to write than comedy; any putz can invent characters that weep on each other's shoulders and expect the same from the luckless viewers. LDW doesn't have any moments that will have you laughing, or even chuckling. "Happiness", for which this is intended as a sequel (?), was both hilarious and original, a refreshing film when it came out. In hindsight, "Happiness" was Solondz at his creative high, much like Leigh with "Naked". LDW simply re-hashes the same themes, sans the humour. So pedophiles are people too? Who the hell cares. Quoting one of Billy's daft college pals: "child-molestation is so passé"; a troubling line that might just reflect some of Solondz's own devious attitudes.What's even more troubling, Todd might even be attempting to open our minds to the vague (and cretinous) notion/possibility that even terrorists might be as misunderstood and overly victimized, just like pedophiles. Certainly the posters of Che Guevara (a mass murderer: a fact 99% of the people reading this text are unaware of) and of a Palestinian kid standing in front of an Israeli tank, plus the retarded ramblings of the highly moronic pre-Bar-Mitzvah kid about 9/11 and forgiveness all seem to point in this direction; not nearly as rabidly and in-your-face blatantly/aggressively as a certain greedy buffoon by the name of Michael Moore, but it's there. Again, I hope I am wrong. If not, Solondz's decaying mind is enveloped in an even steeper moral and intellectual decline than I'd previously suspected. Still, it would be hardly surprising; the majority of society's more extreme misfits, outcasts and "freaks" are naturally – i.e. logically - drawn toward political extremism, and extremism in general. Just look at the higher echelons of Nazi Germany: as many sexual deviants there as the sick heart desires. Certainly most zit-faced, overweight film-buff nerds, riddled with self-loathing due to their sexual inadequacy and the shame of still living with their parents, are drawn toward Marxism, the other side of the lunatic coin. Perhaps Solondz got beaten up often as a child.The boy in "Happiness" behaves like a real kid, unlike the artificial Timmy whose reactions and utterances seem forced and absurd nearly all of the time; at one moment speaking/acting like an adult, the other like an imbecile. How predictable that he would eventually heed his mother's "advice" and scream when a man touches him. How utterly corny that his mother would actually end her relationship with Harvey instead of sorting out the ludicrous misunderstanding – which would happen in the real world. In fact, this plot-device was more worthy of a garbage TV-sitcom than a movie with such "lofty" aspirations. "Happiness" wasn't predictable – LDW was. Joy's husband killing himself: also predictable. "He knows that Bush and McCain are idiots". This, coming from a man who advocates understanding toward pedophiles – while using the "98% gene-pool incest-monkeys" analogy to subliminally justify sexual deviancy – this is practically a badge of honour for both of those politicians. The badge would say: "a deviant Hollywood depressive obsessed with pedophiles hates me". The scene with Joy playing a song on her guitar seems to have had only one purpose: to mention that "Vietnam was a mistake". Jesus H, Todd; that tired old left-wing shtick – in 2009?! That's the political equivalent to the comedic banana-peel fall. You hate war, we get it.Solondz has stated that the Iraq/Afghanistan wars initiated this script. "Life during wartime": you've got to be kidding me. I'm aware he's using the title to mean two completely separate things, but I can't get around the whiny/deluded suggestion that America-in-war and America-not-in-war are such distinct, separates beasts, as if shopping in K-Mart changes drastically when there's a war on. He ought to visit the Balkans some time. Or Angola. (In a time-machine.) Yet another clueless/naive all-war-is-bad-except-WW2 left-wing Western pacifist who provides no alternatives/solutions, but is quick to criticize all violence, jumping on the highly unoriginal Bush-bashing anti-war bandwagon. In fine company has he thereby placed himself: Madonna, Green Day, Sean Penn, Pink, Paris Hilton, and George Clooney; all intellectuals.Ally Sheedy (who's overrated) overplays it as if Nicholas Cage and John Travolta had personally coached her in the not-so-fine art of cinematic tom-foolery. Sillier still (though this isn't her fault) her character shifts gears without rhyme or reason. That character made very little sense, serving no purpose in the story except to give Todd a chance to have a go at Hollywood screenwriters (whom he presumably, and justifiably, probably considers sell-outs). Ironically, it seems Todd is heading that way too.

Todd Solondz might be the most polarizing comedy director no one's ever heard of. The reputation of his films proceed them; a shroud of controversy seems to surround his work, which frequently depicts explicit sexuality, including pedophilia and rape, not to mention murder, exploitation, and ridicule channeled through a pitch-black misanthropic irony. And yet you might as well be speaking another language bringing up his name and filmography with a mainstream crowd. Even in the circles in which he's known, his sense of humor is a decidedly acquired taste. So specific, in fact, that his latest film, "Life During Wartime," may come as a shock to his fans. And not the sort of shock they're used to.A direct follow up to probably his most well known film, 1998's "Happiness," "Life During Wartime" provides a notably more contemplative take on the lives of Solondz's characters, who have been deliberately and entirely recast for this sequel. Yes, it has its moments of biting humor, dark caricatures, and discomfort, but this time around, he approaches them with a subtler, more refined eye. "Happiness" is a busy, sprawling movie—"Wartime" is a brief string of conversations reactive to the action of that film.It has the tendency to come off initially disappointing, perhaps because it is his least funny film. But if it is his least funny film, then it is intentionally so; for a director who has tirelessly redefined the term 'mature content,' Solondz finally feels as though he himself is maturing. The result may be less fun, but it's probably more valuable.And his characters breathe that maturation. In "Happiness," Bill Maplewood (then Dylan Baker, now Ciarán Hinds) is a struggling pedophile; he is defined and condemned by the things he does. His reintroduction in "Life During Wartime" is upon release from prison, where his sole motive is to track down his son and conduct an amateur psychoanalysis on the damage his behavior caused. Hinds is solemn and introverted in the role; Baker was oily, narcissistic, and well—Childish, if you'll forgive the phrase.Maplewood's recurring dream is a perfect visual metaphor for not only the changes he has undergone between films, but the tones of the films themselves. In "Happiness," he dreams of an unspoiled park, complete with picnickers and strolling couples enjoying absolute tranquility—Before he loads an assault rifle and lays them all to waste. In "Wartime," Maplewood revisits the park, where a single elusive individual, scrubbed and out of focus, turns to him with a rose in hand.What I find most interesting, however, is not the way Solondz reconsiders these characters, but how he reconsiders the idea of the sequel. He's dabbled before in casting multiple performers in a single role—His last film, "Palindromes," had eight actresses portraying its protagonist. But with "Life During Wartime" he commits entirely, while at the same time creating a film purposefully asimilar to the existing work.It may not be as exciting or as groundbreaking a film as "Happiness" is and was, but it's more interesting for its reservations. The converse, 'Hollywood' approach would have been to outdo the original, to push the envelope even further, and the result would be infinitely less genuine. Instead, Solondz throws a curveball: treating his characters with unprecedented compassion (though only by comparison to his other films), and challenging our preconceived notions of both what a sequel is, and what a Todd Solondz film is."Life During Wartime" won't win over many detractors (they probably haven't heard of it anyway), and it even runs the risk of aliening fans expecting more vitriol—Leave it to Solondz to polarize audiences even when his shroud of controversy dissipates. The man has an absolutely uncompromising vision, and he's still one of the greatest comedy directors working today, whether you've heard of him or not.

Not being acquainted with Todd Solondz before now, I found myself comparing "Life During Wartime" at an advance screening tonight to the Cohen brothers, "A Serious Man"-- a film I really enjoyed. It felt like it was hitting a lot of the same notes at the front end of the film, with its humour and the Jewish family life. This was considerably darker--don't worry, I noticed.I found the Ciaran Hinds story and acting strong, though it made me wary I was being set up to think, "Oh, not such a bad guy, after all." I was relieved this never went further than to suggest, "only human, after all." I'd be interested to hear what some of my social worker friends think of how the film treats this family's big secret, especially in light of the forgiveness theme.Joy's thread in this film, quirky and fun as it was at times, felt the weakest. There was something about the character's little girl voice and the vacillation and mood swings that started to annoy and distract me, after a time. Maybe the director was just playing with another cliché, there, about long-suffering women, but, well, see for yourself.

I am only 25, but crap like this gets me nostalgic for times when movies aimed to make people laugh or cry or learn, or at least be entertained. So many films now seem to just want to make the audience uncomfortable. If everyone is uncomfortable and confused it must be really deep. Well I don't buy it.Yes, everyone's family has their quirks, but that in and of itself doesn't make for a good movie. Messed up family stuff has been done and done and done again. I watched Welcome to the Dollhouse in my teens and really loved the movie (which is why I decided to watch this). It had some screwy uncomfortable things but the movie was entertaining and had heart. Also, I knew what was going on. It wasn't so... pretentious. It didn't try so hard to be art. It was just a really good movie.The reason this gets even 3 out of 10 is the red headed kid is one likable eloquent child actor.