Life During Wartime

Writer/Director Todd Solondz ("Palindromes") continues down his angst-ridden path with this new entry for the 2010 Seattle Inter- national Film Festival. I have pondered this title and for the life of me, I can't connect this story line about paedophilia with wartime...

We meet:

• Shirley Henderson ("Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day") as "Joy," a misnomer if ever I saw one!
• Allison Janney ("Away We Go") plays a divorced, single mother who has a secret, but wants a normal life. 
• Michael Lerner ("A Serious Man") just might be normal enough to fit the bill. 
• Ciarán (Keer' uhn) Hinds ("The Eclipse"), an ex-con who really WANTS to be normal. 
• Ally Sheedy ("Citizen Jane") delivers the only funny monologue in this film. Her character is a totally self-involved artiste. 
• Dylan Riley Snyder ("Valley of the Moon") is a little boy trying to figure out what constitutes "normal!"

You will also see Paul Reubens ("Pee Wee Herman") and Charlotte Rampling ("The Duchess") still polishing their indy film credits, with Michael K. Williams (Omar in "The Wire") opening and closing this bleak exercise in misery.