The movie's oppressive atmosphere of flatly rendered, all-consuming determinism leaves it sparkless, pointless and ultimately not very funny.

In its own peculiar way, it is a more compassionate and useful religious document than Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.

Beating up the viewer with grotesquerie is a worthy goal only when there's a point to it, such as self-examination.

Todd Solondz, backward and forward, is simply an outstanding, courageous storyteller and a unique, insightful, and gifted director.