Film Critic The Facts Film: "Welcome to the Dollhouse" Director:Todd Solondz Cast: Heather Matarazzo,Victoria Davis, Brendan Sexton Jr.,Daria Kalinina, Matthew Faber Grade:A- Five Words:"'Saved by the Bell's' antithesis"
If you were lucky, you never had to endure the first scene in Todd Solondz's film, "Welcome to the Dollhouse". In this scene, Dawn Wiener (Heather Matarazzo), a mousey, profusely unpopular 7th grader, tries to find a place to sit during lunch. Students fit at each of the tables like the cereal section at a supermarket. But Dawn is like the discounted store-brand cereal of junior high. Constantly squinting from her thick, plastic glasses and wearing clothes that seem perfect for the 5th grade, Dawn naturally draws humiliation towards her. Even a wimpish 7th grader, fresh from a beating by 3 bullies, calls her "wiener dog". Matarazzo skillfully downplays these punishing moments, trying to put on a happy face. Bottling her rage, she unleashes it on her pampered little sister, Missy (Daria Kalinina). Dawn's trials in adolescent hell are hilarious, but affecting. After having her hair littered by spitwads, Dawn fires one back at her attackers. She mistakenly hits a teacher's eye, and gets a visit to the principal's office for punishment. When she tells on a kid who tries to cheat on a test, she gets detention as well. Dawn's few escapes from her miserable life are few and desperate. Her love interest is Steve Rogers (Eric Mabius), a dim, guitar strumming kid who is a computer course away from flunking out of school. Dawn's brother, Mark (Matthew Faber) agrees to help Steve with his course if he will play in his band. Steve is one of the only people who will acknowledge Dawn's existence. She mistakes this general politeness as feelings of love. Steve says "Hi" to Dawn, later she makes a miniature shrine of Steve. Another tormenter of Dawn, Brandon McCarthy (Brendan Sexton, Jr.), later turns out to be a love interest. At first, Brandon repeatedly terrorizes Dawn with a threat to rape her after school. When he takes Dawn to a desolate trailer park, his threats are extinguished by Dawn's innocence. Brandon tells Dawn that he won't rape her, but he still cruelly uses Dawn as practice for his kissing game. Often ignored by her family, Dawn has nothing going for her through most of the film. While most nerds in movies have high grades to fall back on, Dawn doesn't even have that. One day, she was humiliated when she scored a D- on a test. Solondz doesn't offer any happy ending for Dawn. Like "Heathers", "Welcome" is a great dark comedy. However, Dawn can't blow away her tormentors like Christian Slater or Winona Ryder did. In the end, she can only endure and hope that the 8th grade will be better. "Welcome to the Dollhouse" got the best picture nod at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Anyone who can say that their junior high years were the best years of their life need not see this film. Anyone else who's junior high years were daily exercises in endurance will laugh and identify with this film, check it out, you know who you are.
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