Fear Anxiety and Depression

While everyone seems to be pretending that writer/director Todd Solondz made his debut with "Welcome to the Dollhouse," his first effort was actually this comic look at NYC's underground art scene. (In his defense, Solondz did not have final cut, and he was not pleased with the results, so he has at least some justifiable motivation for trying to re-write history -- this film is not listed in his bio in the "Happiness" press kit, and I suspect many critics don't know it exists.)

So, how is it? Uneven, yes, but possessed of a biting wit (nowhere near as trenchant as it would get in Solondz's later, better films). Solondz also stars in the film, cutting an unusual but nonetheless memorable figure as Ira, an unsuccessful playwright who keeps hoping that Samuel Beckett will reply to his invitation for a collaboration.

"Fear, Anxiety and Depression" isn't for everyone, but if you find the title appealing, its sense of humor may tickle you as well. The Samuel Goldwyn Company (barely) released the film in 89/90, and you can still find it on video. Warning: Solondz's bizarre and funny love song "A Neat Kind of Guy" will get stuck in your head for DECADES.

I've only seen this movie twice, and I remember parts of the story, and the way that it was told. Yes, it is a good movie - but not as good as it should be. The script is good, but it needs some work. I think if the film were re-edited, it might change the entire thing, and make the movie more likable on a large scale (or at least as large a scale as his other movies have had). If you are considering this, go watch Welcome to the Dollhouse...then Storytelling or Happiness, or both. Then watch this. If you take this as an introduction to his work, you'll really have no idea how much better it can be.

I presume the schlockiness is intentional. It is very well-executed schlockiness. The archetypes are conventionally but very truthfully drawn: clinging desperate girlfriend, dangerous girlfriend, "best friend's girl" girlfriend, the commercially successful classmate from your old high school, the using "best friend".

The style of the movie is bizarre. The New York pictures are well-chosen for the flavor of the movie. The music often clashes with the action or the visual dynamic in a way that seems deliberate. It doesn't result in the Knowing Guffaw, or the Delighted Titter, but it just seems to lay the scene out stiff, like the way you feel when you're out for dinner with your parents at a place you now know is beneath you and your aspirations (a scenario which recurs at comforting intervals during the picture) -- this is a fine depiction of "spinning your wheels" during your inept and misguided 20s. I don't know a lot about this writer/director and his work (I live in a cinematically-challenged area) but if he meant it the way it came out, he's really reaching me.

There are "musical interludes" so artfully awkward. The "Ay-yi-yi-ra" song is a special treat. The movie is cloyingly awkward, but the result is so off-beat, so "am I really seeing this?" that I couldn't stop watching. I would really like everyone I know to see the "performance artist girlfriend" 'cause I'm amazed at her make-up technique, and her hair-doos.

Too bad the credits for this movie on this site are so sparse.

This is Todd Solondz' first big movie before he did `Welcome to the Dollhouse.' There are definitely some scenes, where I'm laughing when I know I shouldn't be, that remind me of `Happiness,' and `Welcome to the Dollhouse.' Other scenes are so much like Woody Allen's `Annie Hall,' it is unmistakable. The main character, Ira, is played by Todd Solondz himself. He's a fearful, nervous playwright hoping to make some real art. Looking for advice, he asks friends to read his play. Not that it would be a bad idea, you know, getting a little input from friends to help along the process, but these are the wrong people to be trusting with that type of decision. Ira is afraid of being considered a bad writer, and his friends are afraid of being honest with him. Jack's character is a great example of a guy who uses words to take the easy way out, pretending his life isn't what it really is.a lie! He sums up his success saying an art critic, Sheila, thinks he is the next Matisse. It turns out that Sheila, played by Anne De Salvo, is one of my favourite characters. When she comes over to check out Jack's art, she says, `I hate to have to be honest with you, but your art is so cliché.' He just wants to be in the Whitney Bi-Annual so he sleeps with her to try and gain her help in being chosen. But even that doesn't work! It made me laugh so hard. Jack is such a loser. Stanley Tucci plays a great, funny role as Donnie. He's always got a different woman with him, and brags about his money when he is around Ira. He's that kind of guy from high school that always succeeds, who has everything, when you know he's not a cool guy and he doesn't deserve it. There are many hints of Solondz' later movies in `Fear, Anxiety and Depression.' It's a funny movie that I would definitely watch again. Some people think it is too similar to a Woody Allen movie to be taken seriously. I think it's awesome because it is close to being an Allen movie, but it is much more honest and dark than Allen ever achieved on film. There are some great explorations of the boundaries of honesty. How sometimes people lie, or withhold information, to make others feel good about themselves, or to take advantage of others. On some level, it probably comes across as another love story comedy, but the script is very thoughtful and intellectual, more than any typical movie.

Tod Solondz obviously had seen at least a bunch of Woody Allen comedies before 1989 when "Fear, Anxiety, and Depression" was released. His hapless Ira mirrors any number of inept Allen characters. Even Woody's familiar theme of rejection pervades this film. Chase women and they will run, run from women and they will chase is the basic story being told. The characters, including a successful writer played with gusto by Stanley Tucci, are almost all colorful, and the acting is good. What eventually drags the film down is Solondz coming across as more of a caricature of Woody Allen rather than a unique character that could stand on it's own. - MERK