Storytelling is a collection of three stories surrounding three different groups of people. One of which is a college student who is struggling to create solid short stories for her class, another involves a family in a suburban neighborhood struggling with the lack of communication all around but more in focus to the oldest son, a struggling teenager in high school who does not appear to have a bright future ahead of him at his current rate. And last but not least, the man who I was looking forward to performance wise, the documentary film director, whose current project is to document how teenage life has changed since he himself attended school and uses the struggling teenager in the suburban neighborhood as his prime star.

Storytelling's one of those movies where it's all a matter of how deeply involved you transfix yourself into each story or scenario. Obviously, if you don't care about many of the facts brought to your attention throughout the movie you're likely to walk out hating the film, which I would bet is close to an average response among the mainstream moviegoers out there. Storytelling is made more for the Stanley Kubrick audience out there, except it doesn't provide quite so much meaning and thought behind the material itself as Kubrick projects generally held. And unfortunately, as talented as Kubrick was as a director and storyteller, it's quite a shame how the majority of mainstream moviegoer folks tend to dislike his material.

As for myself, I tend to be taken in by these types of stories where families don't get along as a whole or if it's not so much of a "happy go lucky" feature. Storytelling is really a showcase of Solondz's writing/directing skills, despite it being heavily controversial, as well as the acting. While highly controversial, that isn't always a negative thing, as Eyes Wide Shut and A.I. were controversial yet it took me several viewings of EWS before I began to grow a stronger appreciation for what Kubrick presented, compared to the nearly pointless reaction I had first time around.

As obvious from the above, Storytelling is not for the average moviegoers out there and even some of the art-house type audiences may disagree with this flick. It's a kind of story that offers filmgoers that don't mind a controversial look on people's lives an interesting story, despite concluding on a very "oh...my...God..." note. I was far from hating the film, but I didn't love it either. But I was not in between and have to bet that folks are either going to like it or hate it, and it primarily depends on what kind of moviegoer you are. See it as you wish, but be warned that this film and both of Solondz's previous projects are not for everyone.

Grade: B+