Life During Wartime

In the late 90s Todd Solondz's films were the last word in misanthropic chic. Forget the early stuff by Neil LaBute or any of Woody Allen's sour movies of the time (Deconstructing Harry through to Celebrity). Happiness and Welcome to the Dollhouse were blasts of ice cold, cruel air. They rallied against the increasing influence of romantic comedy and self-conscious, post-Pulp Fiction American indie. In his movies, Solondz delivered a very middle class psychological horror; educated, affluent people who offended ethically, morally and legally. This was real life in an accentuated scabrous ugliness.

In Life During Wartime, Solondz revisits the characters from Happiness, and asks whether we can forgive them. It's a tricky task as these people included narcissists, perverts and a paedophile. So, after a couple of recent misfires (the underwhelming Storytelling and the confused Palindromes), it's good to see Solondz returning to safer ground. Or is it?

Initially signs are mixed. The movie has been completely recast, which seems to serve no real purpose aside from to obfuscate and disorientate. Yet, in itself, the casting is consistently successful and distinct. Dylan Baker's paedophile dad is now played with a dour detachment by Ciarin Hinds. He is having problems clearing his subconscious of his victim, as he returns home from jail. Ally Sheedy's Helen is still a self-centred and thoroughly unlikable character, but now she is married to a celebrity. And her Plain Jane sister Joy is played with breathy earnestness by Shirley Henderson, and is now involved in charity work. Paul Reubens also turns up as the ghost of suicides past, in the role previously inhabited by Jon Lovitz.

They all do a lot of hand-wringing and moralizing , and it's all incredibly frustrating. There are moments in the script which are powerful; the film's last shot and a speech delivered by the film-stealing presence of Alison Janney. But none of it feels believable or real. Issues aren't fleshed out, and Solondz appears to be going through the motions. Depending on your view he either wastes a great cast, or uses them to shroud the movie's rather bare bones.

It is becoming increasingly clear that Solondz has seriously lost his way as a filmmaker. There are rumours that Life During Wartime may be his last film. Considering his success to failure ratio is now 2:3, it's probably for the best.