Welcome to the Dollhouse Reviews

• I even liked the song

  
  By ABN5K7K1TM1QA on 2001-11-09
  BEWARE SPOILERS!
  This is a very funny comedy about the indomitable spirit of an 11-year-old junior high school girl, Dawn Wiener, played with geekish verve by Heather Matarazzo, who overcomes real life horrors the likes of which would make war heroes shutter. How would you like to be courted by a guy whose pick up line is "I'm going to rape you at three o'clock. Be there."? Or have a mother who splits your chocolate cake in front of your watering eyes into two pieces and adds them to the plates of your brother and sister? Or have your dream lover tell you he can't be a member of your Special People Club because it's "a club for retards"?
  
  It gets worse. You're taunted daily by choruses of "Wiener Dog!" and "Lesbo freak!" and bullied at school by everybody including some teachers and the principal. And at home, your siblings tear down your club house. And when you're missing from home for a day and phone home, you're told to call back later, mom and your spoiled little sister are mugging for the TV cameras.
  
  Ah, but Dawn can overcome the night. She turns the would-be rapist into a macho-posturing little boy who really only wants to be affectionate ("I make the first move!" he boasts) and demonstrates that no matter how hard they hit her, she'll be back tomorrow, undaunted.
  
  Matarazzo does a great job, but she isn't alone. Brenden Sexton stands out as the posturing macho boy who loves her but can't admit it, as does Eric Mabius playing Steve Rogers, the self-absorbed high schooler/rock star wanna be (and Dawn's first love). The rest of the cast is also good, especially Victoria Davis in a bit part as the foul-mouthed, sexually ambiguous 12-year-old Lolita who corners Dawn in the bathroom. Incidentally that scene in which Lolita slyly tells Dawn "You didn't come in here to wash your hands," and insists that she do what she intended to do is just a great piece of pre adolescent camp. Another fine (and subtle) scene is when Dawn in her bedroom hears Steve Rogers sing for the first time (in the garage with her brother's "band"). The expression on her face, as she rises up enthralled and follows the sound, suggests someone in the throes of a first awakening. And I loved the bit where Dawn, after being told by one of Steve Rogers's ex-girl friends that they "finger-...(you-know-what)" one night and that was all, is inspired to demonstrate her finger work on the piano to Steve and then to show him her hands, fingers spread so he can see them. Of course he hasn't a clue to what she's thinking--and we're not too sure either!
  
  Now some people may think there is some exaggeration here, and they're right. I mean, nobody wears a pirate's black eye patch after getting hit in the eye with a spit ball! And teachers, even bad ones, know better than to deliberately humiliate their students (although some do it unconsciously). Nonetheless, while the action may not be entirely realistic at times, its spirit is totally true. Just ask anybody who remembers junior high school. Which brings me to the question: how did director and script writer, Todd Solondz, get it so right? Did he take notes when he was still in junior high to use when he grew up? Did he steal his daughter's diary? Clearly somebody lived this script. I'm guessing that "Dawn" is "Todd" at least in spirit, and the striking capture of the psychology of the world of being twelve-years-old is due to his having been there and done that, "big time," as is written on Dawn's locker.
  
  Whatever, this full color world of the middle child is an adorable, witty, psychologically honest, beautifully directed and edited, masterfully conceived entertainment, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, 1996, and sure to steal your heart.
  
  Final irony: this is a movie for and about 12-year-olds (it would appear) yet it is rated "R" and so, in effect, junior high school life is not only "not suitable" for those under thirteen, they can't even view it!
  
  

• One of the Best Movies of the 1990s.

  
  By A38U2M9OAEJAXJ on 2002-07-09
  Let me get this out of the way: in grade school, I was teased. A lot. In fact, it was so bad that even walking to school was an emotionally and physically painful experience. I can relate to every second of misery Dawn endures in the dynamite "Welcome to the Dollhouse." Most films like "Sixteen Candles" view high school as some insulated paradise. Not this film. Here, Dawn (played by Heather Matarazzo) is as socially inept as a pre-teen girl can be. She is subject to taunts, verbal assault, and vicious mind games at the hands of her classmates. Home life isn't much better; her parents blissfully ignore her while they shower attention on her cutsey younger sister, Missy. They give her attention only when they catch her doing something wrong, which seems to be most of the time. On top of this, she develops a crush for the teenage lead singer of her brother's band. Anyone who has experienced unrequieted love will find this subplot heartbreaking to watch. Despite the above, "Welcome to the Dollhouse" is a murderously funny movie to watch, even if you were a victim of grade school teasing. The performances are dead-on and it's one of my favorite movies of the 1990's.
  
  

• A Painful Pleasure

  
  By A3PMK4YNUWADQ0 on 2000-04-08
  When I first saw "Welcome to the Dollhouse" in the theater, I had mixed feelings about it. Although I found myself totally immersed in this offbeat story of a pathetic and persecuted girl, I initially questioned whether the movie really had a heart. What truly impressed me was Todd Solondz's frighteningly realistic depiction of junior high. As far as I'm concerned, it would be impossible for a filmmaker to exaggerate the torture of those hellish years, and Solondz really captured the experience to its full extent. What I considered somewhat unrealistic and offputting at the time was the way Dawn's family came across as so uncaring and even malicious. The film is obviously a black comedy, intended for uncomfortable laughs, but it seemed that these characters were so impossibly mean that they risked becoming ugly caricatures that you couldn't take seriously. I came away feeling that I had just witnessed something very intense and moving, yet I also felt the movie was overly preoccupied with its intent to shock and disturb. Since that initial viewing, I have purchased the video and watched it at least five times. With each viewing, I have found more and more truth and resonance in the bleak and hopeless world that Solondz constructed...and have become more and more convinced of its status as a minor masterpiece. Even though there is a lot of over-the-top venom and hostility thrown around in this film, there are also heartbreaking moments of raw and deeply-felt emotion that anyone who has ever wanted to be loved and accepted can surely relate to (in other words, the majority of humankind). One of the most poignant segments is when Dawn dreams that everyone in her life is declaring their love for her, only to wake up to her reality: she is alone and lying on a dirty city street. Then there's always the film's final and most emotionally devastating image of Dawn riding on a bus to Disneyland with her Glee Club. Those last few seconds always give me goosebumps. And don't forget the all-time best movie lines that have become staples among my circle of friends: "Tell your sister you love her!" and "At 3:00, you will be raped." I am now convinced that anyone who is unable to find some value in this movie is either 1) one of the lucky few who was generic enough to make it through those junior high years free of torment or 2) one of the mean and malicious people depicted in the movie who turned the rest of us into a bunch of Dawn Weiners.
  
  

• I was completely Heather

  
  By on 2001-11-04
  The first time I saw this movie I loved it. It's hilarious. I can say that this movie is completely accurate in depicting the horrors that befall the unlucky, ugly, socially inept, nerds, etc junior high school kids. I say it's accurate because Heather is ME when I was in seventh grade. I was picked on mercilessly, called names (my 7th grade yearbook has PROOF of what my classmates called me) my family home life was beyond miserable. I had no one to talk to about anything. I got picked on in school and ceaselessly nagged and told how awful I was at home. And I am not making any of this up. And yes, I TOO am amazed at myself that I haven't ended up in jail or have committed suicide due to that year plus the years before and following.

  I think the movie is hilarious. It is accurate and anyone who says it is not realistic, well you are dead wrong. I'm 31 now and somehow recovered from that year, but believe me, I still have scars. But I think I've recovered enough that I can laugh at this movie. I can laugh because I've been through it. I don't laugh because I'm mean, or don't have a heart, I laugh because of how true this movie is. And I laugh because I am happy that I wasn't the only one who went through the torture of 7th grade.

  Oh, my nickname was Smelanie in case anyone was interested.
  
  

• Realistic film about the horrors of high school

  
  By A14U40MX3CPO8Q on 2003-03-18
  "Why do you hate me?" asks Dawn, a junior high outcast. "Because you're... ugly," replies her classmate, in one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in "Welcome to the Dollhouse". Heather Matarazzo plays Dawn Wiener, a junior high school student with no friends and parents who favour her younger sister Missy. Dawn is constantly harassed, especially by Brandon, a boy involved in drugs. After enduring what she does at school, Dawn comes home to her family - a family that could really care less about her. During the course of the film, I couldn't stop feeling sorry for Dawn because, like most people who can relate to this movie, I was sort of like Dawn when I was in school. Heather Matarazzo perfectly portrays Dawn in a way that most other actresses probably couldn't. She brings realism and honesty to the role and keeps the movie afloat during the last twenty minutes when it gets a bit silly. All in all, "Welcome to the Dollhouse" has been able to convey the realities of high school, unlike some recent movies and television shows. This is a MUST for anyone who didn't have the greatest time in school.
  
  
• Advice from Someone Who's Insane
  By A1JTQANH3PJ11W on 2005-11-10
  I'm not entirely sure why I'm reviewing this film (besides being completely and ridiculously obsessed with it) seeing as there are already 142 reviews, most of substantial length. I'm not going to provide some prolific summary; that's obviously been done in one of the previous 100 summaries. However, what I'm going to tell you is that, really, and I can't stress this enough, it's perhaps the most wonderfully witty movie I've ever seen. I'll even provide you with several, erh, "concrete" reasons as to why.
  
  Reason Number One:
  I'm a cynic. I don't like movies. I can name about six movies I've enjoyed, and one is an Olsen movie, two are adapted from Ronald Dahl's novels, and the remaining two aren't in English. So yeah, I can't say I'm a big fan of films. Let me mention that I also don't find anything amusing. Tell me a joke, but I'm not going to laugh. Now let me explain my friend, the one person I've introduced this greatness of a movie to. When I say I don't like movies, I mean, I can stand them, but I wouldn't watch one on my free time. Now, my friend here, I've never seen her crack a smile during a movie (literally). Usually, after five minutes of a film, she's in the kitchen, making buffalo wings or a smoothie. Food > Films. (Okay, so I haven't said anything of substance yet. Long-winded tangents are more my style.)
  
  Anyway, the point is, during "Welcome to the Dollhouse," my friend not only refrained from hitting the kitchen, but even went so far as to "LOL" several times. As for me, the moment I picked up a copy, randomly, mind you, I've been watching it. When I'm depressed, when I'm ecstatic, when I'm evading school work, when I'm sitting online, wasting away my life, I watch "Welcome to the Dollhouse." I quote it and I memorize it. For a hater of films, I'd say that's pretty extreme.
  
  Reason Number Two:
  I'm not going to deny the fact that this has been a very pointless review; it's not even a review, it's basically me just talking about myself and my hatred of films. But what you have to understand (hence reason number two) is that Dawn Weiner, the protagonist of the movie, is nearly the greatest human being to be captured on film, ever. I'm sure you all know an ugly person, a stupid person, a socially inept person, or an irritating person. All those people, generally speaking, have a redeeming quality. If you're ugly, you're smart. If you're annoying, you're attractive. The list goes on and on. This is NOT the case with Dawn Weiner. She's literally a compilation of every single terrible character trait a human being can have. She has NO redeeming quality; as result, she's insanely likeable and hopelessly amusing. By the end of the movie, you're thinking, oh man, Dawn Weiner is the worst/greatest person ever. Of course, I'm not being very nice, I mean, the movie really is about the cattiness of teenagers, growing pains, despondence, but, in all honesty, that's the best part of the film, Dawn Weiner. Not to say the other characters aren't great, because they are.
  
  For example, her brother, Mark, when asked by Dawn if he's interested in females, goes, "Are you kidding? I'm trying to get into a good college." For some reason (mainly because I've said the same exact thing, except I'm a female), that struck me as amusingly realistic and wonderful. Or Missy, the awful shell of a human being. You can't say you haven't ever met a hopelessly rude, yet deceiving attractive/innocent little child. If Dawn is the worst/greatest person ever, Missy surely is the worst/worst person ever.
  
  Okay, well, I'm evading schoolwork and this review isn't really going anywhere. All I'm saying is that if you don't have a life, don't like movies, and probably should be doing many more productive things, view "Welcome to the Dollhouse."
  
  
• ya gotta see this!
  By on 2001-06-22
  "Welcome to the Dollhouse" is one of the most hilarious films I've ever seen. It's about a dorky 7th grade girl, (which I was, now I'm a dorky 8TH grade girl) named Dawn Weiner who is bullied by her parents and her classmates. Everyone in her middle school seems to hate her, probably since they are afraid that they have the same qualities (or lack thereof) as Dawn. The catch of the film is the realistic portrayal of Middle School life. Brendan Sexton III plays that kid from over the tracks, yep we all know or knew that kid, the one who doesn't look washed or loved as much as he should and lives in that OTHER part of town and uses it to intimidate people so everyone's scared of him. He pretends to hate Dawn, happy to find someone more pathetic than himself, but really likes her and she likes him too, but she's already delved into an infatuation with her brother's hunky long-haired friend. It also shows the cruelty of everyone in Dawn's grade, especially the nasty popular girls who talk about parties she's not invited to and call her a "weener-dog." After enough abuse, Dawn starts to retaliate, sorta. She becomes mean. But after about five hours, she realizes that it doesn't work for her, and goes back to being herself, insecure, miserable, and harmless as a fly. Dawn is a pathetic, unpleasant character; she's not really friendly, athletic, or musical, but she does have a bit of intelligence, which lets her realize that the abuse she takes is not right. Heather Matarazzo should have gotten an oscar for this role. She becomes the character so well, that I could not think of her any other way except as Dawn, although there's no way she could possibly be this unpleasant in real life. There's a little bit of hope for Dawn Weiner, and a lot of hope for the career of Todd Solondz, a brilliant 32 year old man who has to be just a tad perverted to understand how grueling it is to be a 7th grade girl.
  
  
• Disturbing but funny, even it makes you feel guilty
  By A319SKSB556033 on 2004-12-29
  Welcome to the Dollhouse is a lot like the recent Napoleon Dynamite. Both have the cast decked out in hideous wardrobes with horrid 1970's-looking environments. Both are about high-school oddballs who face torment from the shallow popular kids. But while Napoleon Dynamite is rather light-hearted, WTTD is really dark and will make you cringe with guilt and quite often make you feel really uncomfortable. In fact, it has more in common with a true horror movie than it does a dark comedy.
  
  Heather Matarazzazzazzo plays the unfortunately surnamed Dawn Weiner, a girl blessed with strange looks (meh-I like her) and an uncaring ignorant family. E-ver-y-one around her is UN-BEE-LEEV-ABLY cruel to her in every way possible. And rage unconfronted continues forever. As are her bullies bullied themselves, Dawn goes on to bully others etc. It subtle idiosyncrasies like this that might go unnoticed in single viewings.
  
  Other characters are quite well drawn, especially Brandon, who didn't get enough screen time. His relationship with Dawn is quite intriguing. Most would think he's using her as a way of making himself feel better but when you think about it that's probably not entirely true. Perhaps Brandon likes Dawn because she isn't nasty to him like Cookie and the other girls were. She wasn't tarting all over him like Lolita in the library and she stood up to Brandon for punching Troy. Also Brandon apologises to her for vandalising her locker and the sad looks he gives her in the library appear to be a look of longing and wanting.
  
  Ironically, the biggest monster in the film is Dawn's own mother. She's a beast of a woman, completely ignorant of Dawn's needs and infatuated with her other younger daughter and far too supportive of her arrogant older brother (his character is further developed in Todd Solondz's 2004 movie Palindromes, played by the same actor). Any scene with her will make you grit your teeth and shake your head no doubt.
  
  Too bad Heather Matarazzazzazzo is married (err...to another woman-sigh...no chance for me now) cause she's actually quite attractive in real life. Though I must say again her wardrobe in this film is 'EEK' Seriously, you'll be questioning Dawn's fashion sense. But then she's probably only wearing what her mother buys for her and wants her to be seen in.
  
  If this movie impresses you then I dare you to check out Todd Solondz's follow-up Happiness. Now THERE is a film to dark and so unbelievably horrifying you'll be watching it through the gaps between your fingers and biting your lip in an effort to restrain the guilty laughter. But on it's own, WTTD is a great movie. Just don't show it to kids if your not down with frank portrayal of teen sexuality or bad language. Or do show them as a lesson in how NOT to treat people.
  
  The DVD is in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 2.0 sound. The print is a little beat up with track lines and speckles but it doesn't distract too much. There are no extras but I don't care.
  
  
• Terrible movie, really bad values
  By A24XEUDWAUHBJ4 on 2006-01-17
  First, I want to say I do like Heather Matarazzo as an actor. She's brave and certainly you can see that by her choice of roles. However, this is a terrible movie and I was saddened that her parents or gaurdians allowed her to be in it. The song is catchy and no doubt the bad values displayed in this film are, too, for some people. The absence of goodness and caring in this film is just depressing. I'm sure some people's lives are like this, but it's not the commonplace experience of adolescence, even for 'outsiders' or 'geeky' kids. It's tragic and traumatic and frightening. Not comedy and definitely not cool. Furthermore, anyone misguided enough to think that the would-be rapist kid 'loves' Matarazzo's character is just sick in the head. Do yourself a favor. Avoid nihilism and other branches of art advocating bad values. Garbage in, garbage out.
  
  
• The most horrific film ever
  By A1GIF813T7REEL on 2000-09-23
  Some people say that "The Exorcist" is the most scary movie ever. Some say its "Jaws", then some say its Dan Quayle. Not for me. For me, its "Welcome to the Dollhouse". I had to see in a spaces. Part by part, scene by scene, because it was just to painful to watch. Never had any director put on screen so truthfully the pain, misery and loneliness that comes when you are bully. I know that personnally.

  The story is about this geeky teen, played with natural charm by Matarazzo. She's tormented at school, ignored by here parents in favor of her "so cute you hate her" sister. She falls in love with this much older bum, makes a sort of friend from a bully who wants to rape her, etc. All her attempts to be accepted, to be recognized, backfires terribly.

  In the story of this girl, director Todd Solondz really manages to show how a segrated society we have and how reputation and looks is more important then what you really are inside. And that is more scary than a shark or an alien.
  
  

• Hell is for children
  By A1COQ2DOO1O9HD on 2001-05-13
  I watched much of Welcome to the Dollhouse in a cold sweat. Even the funny parts (and there are some truly funny moments) had me squirming. See, it's all very familiar. No matter what walk of life you are from, if you went to Jr. High, you knew these characters. Maybe, God forbid, you were one of them.

  Dawn Wiener (Heather Matarazzo) is cursed from the beginning: she's at that gawky, awkward, in-between age - after the bliss of young childhood but before the self-assurance of young adulthood. Called "Wiener Dog" by her tormentors (who comprise nearly every other student at her school), she displays amazing pluck in the face of adversity. She's no victim in the classic sense; if does not precisely fight back, she doesn't just take it lying down, either. But there is a sad desperation in her, too. This film does not condescend - what happens to her is often tragic, and not diminished by the smaller scale of 7th-grade life. In fact, the name-calling, the insults, the petty violations, and the coldness - they seem that much more harrowing because her shoulders are so narrow.

  Welcome to the Dollhouse does not develop along the lines of a traditional plot. It is episodic, told in a series of small, ironic events that form a mosaic of life in the abyss of Jr. High School. It is woven together remarkably well, with painfully honest performances by the entire cast, a perceptive screenplay, and sly, restrained direction by Todd Solondz. There are no Big Moments, just lots of little ones that collectively add up.

  Ultimately, this film is a Rorschach test: you get from it what you bring to it. If you had shallow, selfish parents like Dawn's, or if you were a tormentor, or a victim, or lived on the wrong side of the tracks, or the right side, there is a character who represents you; there is a moment that will unexpectedly reveal an awful truth about your own childhood.

  The brightness at the center of this bitter, angry satire may be that the awful truth can, indeed, set you free.
  
  

• another uncomfortable masterpiece from Solondz...
  By AT6CZDCP4TRGA on 2005-01-24
  Well one thing is sure, Solondz will never be accused of making pandering, tear-jerking feel-good flicks---he seems to go out of his way to create the most uncomfortable, difficult to watch and painfully true to life films in contemporary American cinema.
  
  "Welcome to the Dollhouse" could just as easily be titled "A 12-Year Old's Eternity in Hell." Set in a New Jersey suburb and its equally soul-killing junior high school, it's a mix of Byron's hostile universe and Kafka's vision of a world so absurdly and inexplicably cruel as to be both surreal and comic.
  
  Hapless Dawn Wiener, who is routinely tormented by classmates not only for her name but her homely looks, glasses and clothing among other things, also has to come home to a classic dysfunctional middle class family whose parents dote on her younger sister and her older Bill-Gates-lookalike brother who's obsessed with getting into a good college. The slings and arrows come from all directions and at all times, though there is a surprising romantic development between Dawn and one of her schoolyard tormentors.
  
  Like almost all of Solondz's work, there are no clear cut good and bad characters here, just REAL characters---all of them to a greater or lesser degree are self-absorbed freaks and none of them are blameless or innocent. In short, if you are the kind of viewer who HAS to find a "good" character to latch on to and identify with in order to watch a film, you will probably hate this film.
  
  It abounds with humor so black and sharp and merciless you don't know whether to cry or laugh. I was able to squirm my way through the movie only by constantly looking away from the screen and reminding myself, "this is only a movie, this is not real, this is not real." Solondz's genius is such that I could only half-believe what I was saying.
  
  So, have a stiff drink before you watch---or two or three of them!
  
  
• Simply Amazing
  By A30LMTLC9XVWKJ on 2005-09-06
  "Welcome to the Dollhouse" is basically a feature length episode of "Freaks and Geeks", with an amped-up rejection level and consequently an even more aliened main character (Dawn Wiener played by Heather Matarazzo). Then throw in a little of the "Jan Brady" middle child syndrome and give the thing a "Napoleon Dynamite" production design. What makes "Welcome to the Dollhouse" so extraordinary is that it is more about what is happening inside each viewer as they watch the film than about what is actually happening on the screen. Meaning that your reaction and the film's entertainment value will have a lot to do with your own experiences at that age or at least your sympathetic awareness of the difficulties that some of your classmates were experiencing. As someone has already said, if you aren't blown away by how realistic this is then you weren't unpopular enough.
  
  While Dawn's 7th grade world and home life are surreal extremes which give the film a nice level of black comedy (the stuff written on her locker is hilarious), even the most extreme of these elements ring true. In part because Heather Matarazzo is so believable as Dawn and in part because our points of view at that age lacked real perspective. Meaning that we greatly magnify minor incidents of rejection and ridicule.
  
  Children who first experience rejection in elementary school typically have a physical or basic hygiene issue. Dawn is not one of those children, she is just one of those who become targets for the first time in junior high school for more subtle differences. Since this is a new thing, she is as much mystified as hurt by this abuse. Not really understanding why it is happening to her, she blunders around in a quest to discover a logical reason for the rejection. At the same time she is dealing with all the physical changes happening to a seventh grade girl. But Dawn's rugged home life has made her self-sufficient and somewhat prepared her for the abuse she has to take in school.
  
  Understandably Dawn responds with retaliation, a welcome change from the more typical portrayals of this type of character as a weak victim. Some of her responses are negative like smashing the tape of her parent's anniversary party, pushing away her only friend, and not relaying her mother's message to her little sister about a ride home. Others are positive, like stubbornly refusing to let the taunts from the crowd stop her from finishing her speech. Based on her refusal to apologize at the dinner table, Dawn would probably refuse to ingratiate herself with her classmates even if she knew how. Which puts most viewers even more solidly in her corner as we not only identify but begin to admire her.
  
  All three of the Weiner children are excellent. Daria Kalinina does a great job as perfect little sister Missy and Director Todd Solondz uses her ballet talents to give sequences in the family home a great surreal quality. Josiah Trager gives older brother Mark a realistic portrayal. He is sympathetic to Dawn's daily situation, having gone through the same thing, but he seems to know that the best help he can give is to lead by example. His hardened survivor attitude and future thinking perspective is probably the best way for her to cope with the next five years.
  
  Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
  
  
  
• This should come with a warning
  By A2LP20N7QBM6EF on 2002-06-27
  Most high-school movies make school look like a paradise where the ugly girl is actually really beautiful, the sun shines every day, and all the dorks manage to fight back in the end. Unless, of course, they're the kind of dorks that you *should* laugh at. Then they probably fall over or something. Maybe if you watch enough of these kind of movies, you will start to believe that your own school days were similarly perfect. If you want to continue to believe this, don't watch "Welcome To The Dollhouse".

  Dawn Wiener is the kind of girl who everyone feels sorry for when you watch her on screen, but if you were there would you really be willing to risk everything and sit next to her at lunch? Without the looks or personality to be popular, she is picked on mercilessly by students and teachers alike. Things aren't any better at home either - her parents obviously play favourites, her perfect adorable wannabe-ballerina sister Missy is loved by everyone and her older brother Mark thinks only of getting into a good college (telling Dawn that she might as well go to Disney World because it would look good on her college resume). Her only real friend and sole member of Dawn's 'Special People Club' is a boy named Ralphie, smaller than she is and nicknamed "faggot".

  The movie deals with Dawn's huge crush, on the high school heart throb who is currently lead singer in her brother's band, realistically. He's fairly indifferent to her. If he notices her, he's kind to her in a distant sort of way. Most of the time he hardly sees her. Meanwhile Brandon, the boy who really does like her, bullies her to show that he doesn't.

  If you don't want to get all your repressed memories stirred up again, it's probably not a good idea to see this film. If you do see it, beware. You get bitter and start writing reviews like this one.
  
  

• A painfully honest film you will never forget
  By A3KF4IP2MUS8QQ on 2003-09-16
  Bold, unabashedly honest, psychologically riveting, and painfully mesmerizing are just a few of the words and expressions that come to mind when I think about this uniquely extraordinary film. First shown at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival, Welcome to the Dollhouse walked away with the grand jury prize, and it is easy to see why. Writer/director/producer Todd Solondz brought a unique vision of the sharpest kind to this film, cutting right through the fluff of the typical "geek makes good" nonsense and forcing his artistic scalpel forcefully down into the nethermost regions of the adolescent heart. The story is so unsettling and painfully uncomfortable that some parents hesitated or refused to let their children participate in the filming. It's just an amazing, unforgettable movie.

  Eleven-year-old Heather Matarrazzo gives one of the most remarkable performances I've ever seen from an actress of such tender age. Her eyes and bodily expressions encapsulate and transmit the hurt and misery writhing inside her every moment, leaving the viewer helpless to do anything but watch with increasingly unrestrained unease. Born with the unfortunate name of Dawn Weiner, the poor girl is ridiculed, ignored, teased, insulted, and basically mentally terrorized every day at school. Chants of "Weiner Dog" follow her throughout the hallways, her locker is marked with awful graffiti, and even her teachers and administrators are less than kind to her. Then, after school, she has to come home to parents who dote on her smart older brother and "little miss perfect" younger sister. Dawn has only one friend, a younger neighbor boy who seems to be following in her ignominiously alienated footsteps. Dawn does not escape all of this mentally unscathed, taking her own anger out on her sister in particular and doing several things that good girls should not do. In the most surreal of story elements, Dawn longs to be rescued from her situation by a boy, but hers is not a Cinderella type of fantasy. Her infatuation with a rebellious high school boy is somewhat understandable, but her relationship with a certain school bully is nothing short of surreal. I only wish I could discuss the psychology of this aspect of the movie in this context.

  The one thing that really struck me about this movie is the fact that we never see Dawn cry; she internalizes all of her torments, and this does not have a pretty effect on her. I may be inventing a phrase here, but the director's vision seems to me to have been one of unsympathetic compassion. Far from holding Dawn up as the paragon of innocent, unrecognized virtue whose Prince Charming will come some day, he gives us a girl who becomes cruel in her own right to those few people around her, turning her hatred of others into a deep hatred of herself, several times teetering on the peak of mental unbalance. Solondz does not stray anywhere near the realm of fairy tale, as this ugly duckling does have an ugly side to her. The brutal honesty and lack of a visibly sympathetic portrayal of the character makes her worst moments even more unbearable to the viewer, and this is where the compassion kicks in. Solondz seemingly makes no effort to redeem this character in our eyes, yet the fact that he shows us, in such a harsh and brutal way, the miseries of this poor child's life makes her a character you desperately want to see find a degree of happiness.

  The only thing I don't really understand about Welcome to the Dollhouse is the dark comedy label it seems to have acquired. I found nothing funny whatsoever about anything I saw here. Maybe that's the sensitivity of the former nerd in me, but honestly this movie is just utterly dark and depressing. Those looking for laughs will probably not embrace Welcome to the Dollhouse, but those who want to see the harsh light of truth shone into the bottom of an individual's soul and learn something from the painful experience will walk away from this film a different person than they were an hour and a half earlier. This movie has the power to touch you in ways you may never have imagined.
  
  

• I now feel a LOT better about my junior high years...
  By on 2000-06-19
  On the social ladder of junior high, Dawn can go no lower. Rejected at school as a loser, she's unable to find any respite from this even at home. Dawn is a middle child sandwiched between her genius-like, computer geek older brother and her incredibly precious, can-do-no-wrong little ballerina sister. Despite the fact that her little sister will immediately make you hate her character, the little actress turned in an excellent performance. I almost felt bad for being happy when the little sister vanishes, but I realized that even though Dawn got her fondest wish, it turns out to be a nightmare. Even when Dawn seems to be winning, she's really just losing more. Dawn gets romantically involved with a class bad-boy, seeking to grab some sort of love or attention any way she can, going so far as to not be threatened by the boy's promise to rape her. She's willing to be a victim just to get some sort of notice. It's an amazing movie, although disturbing at some points, it's pretty true to adolescent life. If you want to see the film before you actually invest in a copy, look for it on the Independent Film Channel or Bravo, as both stations run it quite a lot. It's definitely worth it. Heather Matarazzo is going to be one to watch on the indie movie scene...
  
  
• Realism Magnified A Thousand Times...
  By A1A3HX1GQKM2KD on 2001-02-09
  Writer/director Todd Solondz said he wrote WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE as his "response" to TV's The Wonder Years. Before you argue otherwise -- no, The Wonder Years was not realistic. You didn't have to grow up in the 60s to recognize that. It had realistic MOMENTS but, as a whole, everything was glossed over with nostalgia and highly romanticized Americana. But that works on TV. The medium of the movies allows a writer or director to be darker, more realistic, and more tragic for effect.

  Only, Solondz didn't merely go for realism -- he magnified it a thousand times to really drive home his point. Hence the reviews that say this movie isn't realistic. No, it is realistic, but those teenage feelings of angst and alienation are distorted, compounded and compressed into 90 minutes. If Dawn's torture was lessened even a little, the movie wouldn't have had as much of an impact. It gives the movie its drama and even its comedy. While we frown at Dawn's tragedies, we can't help but laugh because of the OVERWHELMING amount of turmoil Dawn must fight through on a daily basis. It's a fascinating manipulation of the audience on Solondz's part: we laugh at Dawn but we also see a little part of ourselves in her.

  So we're kinda laughing at ourselves. Maybe, like Dawn, you had a spoiled baby sister, or a geeky older brother who felt superior to you, or parents that didn't understand you (or even try to), or an older guy/girl you hopelessly had a crush on. Most of us never endured the amount of sheer torture Dawn does, but every teenager has experienced some level of alienation at home and at school. And we can laugh, because most of us have already made it through that awkward part of our lives relatively unscathed. Whether Dawn makes it through or not depends on your interpretation of the final scene. I saw it as Dawn "going along to get along," which is pretty much the best way to make it through those harsh teenage years anyway. It's not a particularly bright ending, but you know she'll awkwardly make it through these difficult years. Like her brother tells her, once she gets to high school "they'll still call you names, but not as much to your face." He's obviously been where Dawn is now, and even HE made it through! And WE know it, too. We pushed through those years, and now we've earned the right to watch something like this and laugh.

  The absolute key to this movie's success (besides Solondz's writing) was the casting of Heather Matarazzo as Dawn Wiener. She looked the part. She sounded the part. Even her posture and body movements screamed "awkward." Absolutely perfect performance on her part. It had to be, because if you didn't buy Heather's performance, you didn't care about what happened to her character. It's one of my favorite performances of the entire 90s.

  Which brings us back to The Wonder Years. The Wonder Years wasn't told form the point of view of the kid. It was from the point of view of the ADULT the kid eventually would become, which is what gave the show it's "Gee, all in all, wasn't life pretty great?" feeling. DOLLHOUSE is centered around Dawn. We feel what she feels and that, along with Matarazzo's performance, is what gives WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE its power. It's a tremendous movie -- one of the best of the 90s. FOUR AND A HALF STARS.
  
  

• Love this movie and Brendan Sexton Jr. III is so cute in it!
  By A233A887J4LB5N on 2004-08-25
  'Welcome to the Dollhouse' is the definitive junior high movie. It is an uncomprimising, sometimes painful, realistic (or pessimistic, depending on your viewpoint) look at adolescence. Pre-teendom has never been portrayed more poignantly, and I give Solondz much kudos for having the ambition and brilliance to do this film. Heather Matarazzo is perfect as Dawn, and utterly real. Dawn is a girl we all know, because we've all met someone like her, or have been her at some point or another in our lives. We, the audience, laugh at her and cry for her, and again I give Solondz kudos for being able to create such a unique bond between protagonist and audience. Sadly, we wouldn't empathize with a girl like Dawn in real life, we wouldn't give two sh*ts about her, and that makes it [the connection] even more bittersweet. The time period of the film is questionable- the houses and furniture look 70's, Steve is pure 80's rock star, and Brandon is apparently channeling 90's grunge... Overall, the decade ambiguity only makes the film seem even more timeless and/or nostalgic, and I very much doubt it will ever seem dated. There are a lot of funny and memorable moments, but for the most part, the scenes that stick with you after the movie are the ones that are painstakingly agonizing to watch, like when Lolita unflichingly explains why she hates Dawn ("Because you're ugly.") or when Dawn confronts Steve at her parent's 20th, only to see the flaxen-haired bimbo behind him and realize the meaning of a "special peoples club"... However, the strongest and most intense on-screen chemistry, in my opinion, occured between Dawn and Brandon. It was one of the most interesting aspects of the movie, and every moment shared between them is captivating. Brendon Sexton Jr. does a wonderful job with a role that could have jeopordized the whole movie, had it been handed to a less capable actor (and also, I must bashfully admit, he's really cute...vaguely reminding me of my jr. high crush...). I almost wish he had more screen time, but resist saying that because the film's timing (an odd 87 minutes) is absolutely perfect, never leaving you bored. Another character who's presence I relished, and maybe even despised a little, was Lolita, a female Kurt Cobain look-alike in black, who's nastiness is right on mark and totally relevant. I hated her for persecuting Dawn so mercilessly and blindly, yet I also identified with her (maybe becaus I was, or rather, still am, a sullen, jealous, nasty person)... The actress did a great job with what she had, namely three scenes; the initial cafeteria scenerio in which Dawn invites herself timidly to sit across Lolita, after which she tells Dawn that someone barfed there before and then publicly accuses Dawn of making a lebian pass at her. Then there's the humiliating bathroom scene, in which she harasses and intimidates Dawn, telling her to keep away from Brandon and finally, in a very chilling and degrading moment, forcing Dawn into a stall and standing at the door, because she wants to see Dawn "sh*t before her eyes". Finally, there is the library scene, where Brandon watches over Dawn (so she will not esape from the 3:00 'rape') and Lolita tries to soothe and draw his attention to her, only to be violently shrugged off. Really, it's not a very important scene, but for once I did feel compassion for this so-called 'evil' antagonistic character. This odd love triangle is rather intriging, and I insist that these three deliver the best performances. However, the rest of the cast is all wonderful, giving great and fitting performances, especially Missy, who captures the role of the bratty little princess-ballerina sister wonderfully (almost too wonderfully, but that's just me being eviiil). Also, the theme (?) song, 'Welcome to the Dollhouse' is so catchy and infectious I was humming it long after the credits rolled. Many critics say it is an uncomfortable movie, hard to watch and mean-spirited, and I agree for the most part, but fervently believe that in it's bluntness and insemintality is genius and truth. This movie refuses to be watered down by Hollywood, and does not deliver a shiny, happy ending (unlike a similar film, 'Angus'). A brilliant, realistic, tragic-comic movie and a must-see.
  
  
• Drop Dead Lesbo..
  By A3RS3TY9A8MUN on 2005-02-04
  This movie takes a painstakingly real look at the life of the geeky, introverted Dawn Weiner (Heather Matarazzo), that hits a little too close to home for some of us. Dawn, "Weinerdog" is in Junior High and has no friends. Everyone picks on her and treats her like most kids do in school. Dawn is in love with her older nerdy brothers "friend" Steve Rodgers who is in High School. She hates her little sister Missy, who is doted upon by her mother and pretty much a spoiled brat who's the only child that gets her parents love. Dawn has only one friend Ralphie who is younger than she is. Dawn so desperateley wants to be cool she even has a shoddy little clubhouse named "The Special People Club" in her backyard. Though Dawn is quiet and reserved, it's blatantly obvious that she's screaming for attention and acceptance in every way throughout the film, but everyone seems so cold, and ununderstanding. Whether it's dealing with the school bullies or her seemingly uncaring parents at home, we follow Dawn through her struggles of growing up as a Junior High loser. Does our anti-hero win in the movie? What do you think? It's a movie imitating life, sad as it may be, it's true.
  
  
• The Curse of a Middle Child or Welcome to Hell!
  By A2BPDFR58H9575 on 2007-03-01
  
  Just imagine for one second that you are an 11 years old girl with ugly glasses. You are a middle child (the film also known as "Faggots and Retards" or "Middle Child") whose parents divide their love between your older brother who is a computer wiz and a little sister, a pretty ballerina. They have neither time nor interest for you. Your name is Dawn Wiener, and almost every student in your middle school hates you, tells you in your face that you are ugly, and nobody remembers your name, you are called Dog Face or Wiener Dog, and one of your classmates greets you every morning with the words, "I'll rape you today at 3 pm" . The film should be called "Welcome to Hell", and Todd Solondz is our Virgil in this Inferno.
  
  Heather Matarazzo is absolutely terrific. She was able to play both, an archetype of an insecure, unloved, misunderstood, and lost in this cruel world child as well as one very real suffering young girl from New Jersey. I could not forget her Dawn, I wanted to talk her, to tell her that yes, the world is cruel, and she was dealt the mixed cards from the beginning but she could play them, there is always hope, there are books, music, and art. Hang on; I would tell her, you are not going to be an "ugly duckling" forever. You'll take off your stupid glasses, you will grow up, you'll be just fine and you will find friends - just wait. But how can one wait at 11? The time drags so slowly in childhood, and every day is descending to Hell...
  
  One of the best films about the "happy" school years I've ever seen.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The hell of Junior High
  By A7NBCYVPM10U7 on 2000-04-26
  I don't know about you, but I can't drive by the video store without thinking about which video I want to rent next. Recently I rented "Welcome to the Dollhouse", a thoroughly fresh take on adolescent geekdom. The low-budget, independent feature, written and directed by Todd Solondz, drew major attention after winning the top prize at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival.

  The plot revolves around the spectacularly unpopular Dawn Wiener (well played by 12-year-old Heather Matarazzo). Known around Benjamin Franklin Junior High as "Wiener Dog", Dawn is shunned and tormented throughout the film. If popularity were a ladder, Dawn would be near the botton rung. She's not even popular in her own family, her irritatingly cute kid sister grabbing all the attention. I really liked the way the film showed there are those who are even lower on the pecking order and how Dawn, herself, is not above lobbing insults.

  "Welcome to the Dollhouse" doesn't pretent to be absolutely realistic. Some scenes are over-the-top. But the movie is universally appealing, I believe, touching memories that are shared by many of us.

  I read where New Yorker magazine described the film as "Hateful". I disagree and would describe the movie as a comedy, but a sad and brutal one.
  
  

• A movie so real and relentless but so worth the effort.
  By A2O7O4QKUI00EI on 1999-12-24
  I hate the gay pride parades every year. I went twice and know that I've seen what I need to. So since 1995 I choose a movie to go to instead. To make it more special I choose something that is less mainstream or at least offbeat. In 96 I saw this film. I was so dumbstruck at first because it was so real and the ending left me emotional. But that's what a great movie does. For such a serious subject there are no easy answers and the director/writer did not dumb this down. The cast, most especially Heather Matarazzo and the extremely cute and intense Brendan Sexton III, are brilliant. For most people this was high school. I couldn't wait to buy this movie and every friend I've shown this to has been affected.
  
  
• Depressing stuff
  By A76YCUFC6WMW6 on 2001-03-06
  I rented this movie because I had been told by some friends that it was a great black comedy. I fail to see any comedy in this movie whatsoever. Instead, I found myself dragged into the misery of the main character and her despicable family. It was a compelling idea, no doubt, but Solondz would have been well served to lighten this movie up a little bit.
  
  
• The "It" Girl
  By A2M66S05KKNSWC on 2001-12-13
  After a showing of this film, a friend of mine commented "It's her parents' fault." Now whether the culpability for "it" can be laid squarely at the feet of Dawn Wiener's parents is a debate, and not a question; the question of that statement is what exactly is the antecedent for "it"?

  When I asked another friend whether she had seen this film, she said she thought she had heard of it, and was it a horror film? and I had to think about the question. Anyone who has lived through this excruciating film about Dawn Wiener's junior high school years immediately understands what "it" is, yet to try and replace it with a single proper noun has me stymied.

  Something is wrong with Dawn. She's "geeky," sure. But most geeky kids usually at least have the solace of other geeky kids; Dawn doesn't have a friend in the universe. Her counselor notices she is unhappy, so advises her to make some friends, as though it were just that easy.

  But nothing is wrong with Dawn. She's not learning disabled; she's not mentally ill; she doesn't have Asperger's Syndrome. She may be clinically depressed by the time we see her, but we could argue "chicken or egg" for hours.

  Dawn endures spitballs in her hair during school assemblies, watching her sister and brother eating chocolate cake while she is given none, standing up to give a speech before her class, and being shouted down with cries of "Wiener dog!" She finally tries her own hand at scraping together a few crumbs of self-esteem, forming a "special people" club, only to be informed that "special people" is a euphemism for "retarded."

  Even when her spoiled little sister disappears for a day, Dawn doesn't think that perhaps at least she'll get some parental attention; she thinks that if she finds her sister, maybe she'll have a momentary "Thank you!"

  The odd thing is, EVERYONE seems to remember junior high school this way. Everyone remembers being spat at, but not spitting, being called names, but not name-calling.

  Whatever "it" is, everyone remembers it. Maybe that's why the crowd at Sundance cheered. Or maybe it was just Heather Matarazzo's brilliant performance. How hard must it have been for a kid actually in this vulnerable stage to expose it on film?

  I'm not surprised that this film was rated "R," and never made it out of the Art House circuit. Children know terrible things, but adults never want to admit that they know. This film is more about adult catharsis than children's reality, although I sincerely believe that had I seen it at the age of eleven or twelve, it would have reduced me to tears.
  
  

• 7th Grade Rape and Fun
  By A2HJB9J5O5CLPB on 2005-02-09
  I am going to watch for more Todd Solondz films. I don't know if WTTD has three acts and an arc, but it held me. I suppose for us late bloomers, male or female, those not physically beautiful or at least with acceptable personas, seventh grade can break your heart. If there is weakness in Solondz's film, it's the relentless humiliation and tension. Yes, there is a knowing laugh here and there, but the pain comes right back. Dawn is not yet a woman; however, she grasps at any straw that comes her way even if it means rape or violence with a local teen punk. She courageously loves her brother's friend, the unattainable teen rock and roller, but he wants no part of her youth and gawky looks.
  
  These disappointments, her unloving mother and father, indifferent brother, and her babied younger sister are as much an impediment to her happiness as the taunting kids at school. She acts out. She's mean to younger kids, rejects her only friend, defies her mother, destroys her sister's dolls, call's her brother names, contemplates seriously murdering her sister with a hammer, and finally allows sis to be kidnapped by a nutty neighbor.
  
  Is this all over the top? Not really! Seemed like this was the way middle school was, a nightmare of displacement where violence and perversion lurked nearby.
  
  
  
• A bit depressing to be a fun Dollhouse
  By A3C6CZC2JP67VK on 2008-01-09
  Todd Solondz does it again and for a reason. We're introduce to Dawn Wiener (Heather Matarazzo), an awkward seventh grader who is put down by her peers because of her physical appearance. The taunting Dawn endures is extreme and does not come across as even slightly reminiscent of anything that happened in my high school, but this fact does not take away from the empathy we feel for her as she struggles through her daily life. As if school weren't bad enough, Dawn's home life doesn't leave much to be desired. Her older brother Mark (Matthew Faber), is the "king of the geeks". Her parents offer no support either. Dawn's other sibling, Missy (Daria Kalinina), is the darling of the family who can do no wrong. She simply flits around the house in her pink tu-tu and makes Dawn's life look hellish by comparison.
  
  Dawn's life is further complicated by Brandon McCarthy (Brendan Sexton Jr.), the misunderstood juvenile who has taken a liking to her. At the beginning of their "relationship" he tells her he will rape her. This does not happen because of various circumstances, but Dawn ends up falling for this tough guy and eventually losing him when he runs away. Throughout the movie, it appears as if everyone in her life pours their derision upon anything she does, exposing all her weaknesses however carefully they might be hidden. Dawn, in turn, passes this on to the few people that she gets close to.
  
  This was not a realistic depiction of the hells of junior high school. For one thing, girls would pick on other girls, but in no way, whatsoever, would any of them force another to sit on the crapper in front of another as a forms of bullying. These are 11-12 year olds? Uh uh. Maybe 4 years older that would happen, but no one at that age would succumb to a type of humiliation that gross and tasteless.
  
  Our lead character is played brilliantly, and shows her determination in the face of endless adversity - in fact, the acting all around is excellent. But the movie denies the moments of redemption. Such a strong young warrior as Dawn would certainly have had some triumphs to share. While the movie is slow at times, it does pull on your heart string, and is definitely worth watching.
  
  
  
  
  
• Poor Weiner Dog!
  By A3D2KTXZZOOPNN on 2000-03-02
  This movie is a hilarious look at the tormented life of Dawn Weiner. She is harassed by her classmates, ignored at home (she runs away and her family doesn't even notice she is gone) and she is only in junior high. Heather Matarazzo plays the clueless and bullied Dawn to perfection and that was not an easy task considering how unattractive they made her look with the clothes and the hair. Kids are very mean and this is a very funny look at kids at their meanist--JUNIOR HIGH.
  
  
• This movie is so disturbing, but so very realistic
  By A3EXNQYJ6QT3KK on 2000-08-18
  This is probably the most disturbing, upsetting movie I've ever seen, but I absolutely love it. It captures Jr High perfectly, from the point of view of the tortured reject of the class. I was oddly fascinated the first time I saw this movie, I was torn between turning it off because it was scaring me, and between taping it because I knew that it was showing how the world really is. This is definitely a masterpiece.
  
  
• Thanks for reminding me, Todd.
  By on 2001-04-11
  It wasn't funny when I lived it, and it isn't funny now.
  
  
• This is real life
  By AJQ1S39GZBKUG on 2002-02-27
  Think `Carrie'. Think her at school but without her telekinetic powers: this is Dawn, the protagonist of anti-fairy tale movie, `Wellcome To The Dollhouse", directed by Todd Solondz .

  For Dawn, High School is hell. She has no friends, she is neither cute, nor popular. Everybody makes fun of her. One boy threatens to rape her, he says "Be here at 3", and she is there, but he is not interested in her any more. At home, things are not very different. Her parents don't care about her. They got eyes only for her little sister, who is too polite, too smart, too cute -- too hatefull -- and for her older brother, a kind of genius who is only worried about his curriculum and his stupid nerd band. Even when she falls in love, we have to addmit, she is ignored either.

  That is Dawn's world. And she doesn't care about it. Nor Solondz. He doesn't want to give us a lecture, saying to love everybody, even the strange girl. Moreover, his work says "This is life, whether you like it or not!" And this a concept that he explored much more in his lattest movies `Happiness' (1998) and `Storytelling'(2002). He has a special interest in the bizarre without making it grotesque. His films are not made to laugh out loud, they make you give pale smilles.

  It seems to me that the only one who have any good feeling for Dawn is the audience. It is impossible not to feel tempted to `get inside' the movie, shake her and say "Wake up, girl! They don't like you. Forget about them." But nobody does it. She has to move on living, despite all the limitations of her life.

  Who says that had never met someone like Dawn at school --or anywhere else-- is lying! She is the kind of person who is around everywhere. And almost everybody ignores them. Everybody but Todd Solondz --who himself looks very alike this kind of person-- and made a wonderful movie about his strange and peculiar universe.
  
  

• Happiness
• Palindromes
• Storytelling
• Ghost World
• Gummo