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In his most recent exercise in confrontational humor, Palindromes, Todd Solondz tackles abortion, teen pregnancy, religion, pedophilia and much, much more.

Palindromes tells a universally-applied story: Young girl wants children. Girl meets boy. Boy gets girl pregnant. Girl's parents find out and force her to have an abortion. Girl runs away, falls in love with a child-molesting truck driver and is adopted by a family of singing, dancing, disabled Christian missionaries. Oh, and, yeah, girl is played by a changing cast of actors, from an overweight black woman to young, waifish white boy.

If the story sounds like a bit much, it is. Like Solondz' past films Happiness and Welcome to the Dollhouse, the controversy in Palindromes is piled on like toppings on an abortion burger. Solondz doesn't care much for round, relatable characters or realistic dialogue. He's more interested in the slaying of sacred cows. If you've bothered checking out his past efforts or even reading the above plot synopsis, you probably already know what to expect and whether it's your thing. Solondz isn't exactly trying to win over a new audience here.

While Palindromes relies on over-the-top shock value, it isn't all pointless. The rotating actors are used thoughtfully and effectively. And those moviegoers who don't flee the theater in disgust should appreciate that the theme of change—or the futility of change—ties things together pretty well. Unfortunately, the film goes to such great lengths to offend or alienate its viewers that it seems to stop short of making a point and settle for posing a thought-provoking question: "Do people ever really change?"

Maybe its best to measure Palindromes' successes by the audience reactions. Listening carefully as a legless girl performed a Christian song-and-dance number on-screen, I could hear raspy, human noises below the God-inspired pop tunes, noises coming from the theater itself—the sounds of hushed, guilty laughter. Solondz must be doing something right.

Palindromes at Amazon