53
Metascore
36 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanThen there's Todd Solondz's Palindromes, which is that rare event: a memorable provocation.
- 80Film ThreatEric CamposFilm ThreatEric CamposYou love Solondz's films, you'll love Palindromes. That same twisted sense of humor is there and certain scenes go on for an uncomfortably long time, but you wind up savoring the discomfort.
- 70The A.V. ClubNathan RabinThe A.V. ClubNathan RabinPalindromes becomes a strangely compelling fractured fable, a grim cinematic fairy tale heightened by Nathan Larson's delicate, bittersweet score.
- 60VarietyDavid RooneyVarietyDavid RooneyLike the symmetrical word that supplies its title, the mordant comedy-drama recovers ground to become a boldly intriguing if not entirely satisfying subversion of American family values.
- 40The Hollywood ReporterRay BennettThe Hollywood ReporterRay BennettIt's a highly stylized piece of work typical of director Todd Solondz, who renders wildly exaggerated sequences on a topic not generally thought of as a basis for comedy. He leaves it to the viewer to decide if it's insightful whimsy or meaningless drivel.
- 40Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanIf the point of "A Dirty Shame" was that nothing human is foreign to John Waters, Palindromes seems to suggest that, for Todd Solondz, everything human is.
- 40TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghPalindromes read the same way backward and forward, and Todd Solondz' sour tale ends where it begins.
- 38ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliA shallow, transparent satire/social commentary, Palindromes lives and dies on a gimmick.
- 30New York Magazine (Vulture)Ken TuckerNew York Magazine (Vulture)Ken TuckerMostly stiff acting and intentionally flat, banal dialogue.
- 30The New York TimesDana StevensThe New York TimesDana StevensThe human landscape of Palindromes is a vista of grotesqueness, dishonesty and creepiness. These are qualities Mr. Solondz has explored before, but this time he fails to make them interesting, partly because he lets himself and the audience off the hook.