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Welcome to the Dollhouse
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Synopsis
Twelve-year-old Dawn Wiener (Heather Matarazzo) is perhaps the most put-upon adolescent in film history in Todd Solondz's bitterly hilarious black comedy Welcome to the Dollhouse. Dawn is bright but awkward, both physically and socially, and is appallingly unpopular among her peers, to whom she's better known as "Wienerdog." Possessing little charm or grace and perhaps the most misguided fashion sense of her generation, Dawn is not an easy girl to like and practically no one seems interested in making the effort. If life is tough for Dawn at school, it's hardly any better at home. While her folks dote on her gratingly cute younger sister Missy (Daria Kalinina) and look with pride to her bookish older brother Mark (Matthew Faber), Dawn is either ignored or treated as an annoyance. Dawn has developed a crush on Steve (Eric Mabius), the hunky guitarist Mark has drafted into his rock band (significantly, Mark is less interested in making cool noise or unloading teenage angst than in having another extracurricular activity to put on his college applications); Steve is polite but obviously not interested in her. However, Dawn has attracted the attention of a boy at school -- Brandon (Brendan Sexton Jr.), a mean-spirited junior thug whose idea of a good time is threatening Dawn with rape. A painfully accurate account of life in junior high (what Matt Groening called "the lowest pit of hell"), Welcome to the Dollhouse is also very funny, but writer and director Todd Solondz never lets the film's humor dilute the agony of its leading character; anyone who has ever been 12 years old will doubtless laugh at Dawn while uncomfortably recalling the horror of their own preteen years. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Cast

Bill Buell Mr. Wiener
Angela Pietropinto Mrs. Wiener
Matthew Faber Mark Wiener
Daria Kalinina Missy Wiener
Heather Matarazzo Dawn Wiener
Brendan Sexton, Jr. Brandon McCarthy
Brendan Sexton III Brandon McCarthy

Production Crew

Lori Solondz Art Director
Jason Kliot Associate Producer
Joana Vicente Associate Producer
Ann Goulder Casting
Gabor Szitanyi Cinematographer
Randy Drummond Cinematographer
Dan Partland Co-producer
Ted Skillman Co-producer
Jill Wisoff Composer (Music Score)
Melissa Toth Costume Designer
Todd Solondz Director
Alan Oxman Editor
Chad Braden First Assistant Director
Todd Solondz Producer
Susan Block Production Designer
Todd Solondz Screenwriter
Avery S. Brandon Set Designer
Alex Wolfe Sound/Sound Designer
Year: 1996
Runtime: 87
Country: USA
MPAA Rating: R
for language
Category: Feature

Genre
Comedy

Produced by
Suburban Pictures

Awards
1996 - Best Picture - Independent Spirit Award
1996 - Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic - Sundance Film Festival
1996 - Grand Jury Prize - Dramatic - Sundance Film Festival
1996 - Best Picture - Independent Spirit Awards