Controversial is certainly a word writer/director Todd Solondz is sick of hearing. It was used anytime somebody described one (or both) of his last two efforts, the masterpieces "Welcome to the Dollhouse" and "Happiness."

His latest, "Storytelling," does nothing to distance itself from the word, but it's not as if anyone wants to see a diluted or tame Solondz movie.

Unfortunately, the filmmaker stumbles this time with a film that fails to match the greatness of his past work. It's never dull and he still knows how to stir things up, but it's also way beneath his talents and treads familiar ground.

Split into halves, the first and much shorter story is "Fiction." Selma Blair is Vi, a creative writing student. Her boyfriend, Marcus (Leo Fitzpatrick), has CP. When he asks her, after they make love, if she wants to hear revisions he made to his story, she tells him that she'll just hear it in class.

Their professor, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Mr. Scott (Robert Wisdom), is a cruel man who delights in criticizing others as harshly as possible. After Marcus reads his story, and the students in class gently, cautiously praise it, Mr. Scott tears into it, describing it in ways that are unfit to repeat.

An embarrassed and angry Marcus breaks up with Vi, furious that she lied about liking his story. Vi decides to ease her pain by going to a local bar to have a few drinks. She sees Mr. Scott at a corner table and walks over to him.

Mr. Scott calmly seduces Vi, and before long they head over to his place. A startling sex scene follows. Vi writes a story about it and presents it to the class. They are disgusted and think it's far fetched and racist. She cries out, "But its true."

Wisdom is mesmerizing and the story is fascinating. Sadly, it is far too short and feels heavily edited. Solondz could have stretched this out into a feature film. As it stands, it's wasted potential.

The second and much longer story is "Non-Fiction." A wannabe documentary filmmaker named Toby (Paul Giamatti) is attempting to make a film about today's teenagers living in suburbia and how their lives differ from when he was a teen.

Toby's subject is Scooby (Mark Webber), a lazy and aimless high school student. Scooby and one of his brother's, Brady (Noah Fleiss) are characters we have seen before, as are their wealthy, conservative and uptight parents, played by John Goodman and Julie Hagerty.

Much more interesting is the youngest child, Mikey (Jonathan Osser). Incredibly smart and inquisitive, he constantly torments the family's poorly treated maid, Consuelo (the wonderful Lupe Ontiveros). Their exchanges reveal the horrible truths of Scooby's family.

While this segment has its moments, and certainly makes clear Solondz's less than enthusiastic feelings about "American Beauty," much of it is redundant and familiar. Yes, it's true that beneath the surface, there are many secrets in upper class life. That is hardly revelatory. And coming from Solondz, that's disappointing.

Clocking in at a scant 85 minutes, "Storytelling" is the rare movie that is too short. And for some reason, Solondz spends more time on the story that is far less interesting. Coming from someone else, this film might rate higher. But from him, it's a major letdown.

"Storytelling" opens Fri., March 1 at Landmark's Oriental Theatre. Click here for showtimes.