“Dark
Horse” is the latest film from American indie director Todd Solondz. The plot of this film is about an overweight thirty
something guy named Abe who still lives at home with his parents, works for his
dad, and collects action figures. To put
it lightly the man is a loser. He has
never had any luck with women, but at the start of the film we see him at a
wedding where he attempts to talk to a girl named Miranda. He is very surprised when he asks for her
number and she actually gives it to him, and when he gets home he calls Miranda
to arrange a date. Miranda is not exactly
normal either, as she is permanently depressed and on medication for it. She is almost like a zombie, barely reacting
to the world around her. Being the loser
that he is, Abe actually asks Miranda to marry him on their first date, and
amazingly she says “yes” even though she makes it perfectly obvious that she is
not attracted to Abe at all. Abe is an
incredibly selfish man who expects everything in life to be handed to him
without working for it, and his troubles soon begin when he has to deal with
the ramifications of his rash proposal.
I found
myself frustrated with “Dark Horse” because while I found the film a very
entertaining watch, I also thought it was a little awkward. The film goes along telling its story at a
nice pace, and then it hits a large section towards the end, and suddenly to
just felt wrong. It’s limp to its finale
is done at such a strange and awkward pace that the film turns off its
audience. Eventually it does all make
sense, but just the way this material is handled is frustrating. Once we get past this section, things
continue to happen to Abe at such a rapid rate we never get time to actually
reflect on it. I will admit that the
film is still quite funny, in a dark way, but because everything happens so
fast, we don’t necessarily feel it all.
Another problem I had with the film is that I didn’t feel that “Dark
Horse” was as dark and biting as Todd Solondz films past, it actually felt a
little soft. I am a big fan of Solondz’s
earlier work especially “Welcome To The Dollhouse” and “Happiness”, and those
films had a nasty streak in them that added to the satire, that sadly “Dark
Horse” does not have.
Performances
by everyone are all good, but boy is Christopher Walken looking old these
days. Walken plays Abe’s father and he
looks so frail but there is one trademark Walken moment in the film when Abe
tries to get past his father and he blocks the hallway. Abe tries to go around him and Walken moves
his head maybe a millimeter or two, but it is so powerful and intimidating,
that it stops his son in his path. It is
a very cool but small moment.
When I
came out of the film I was more disappointed by what it wasn’t, but since then
I am beginning to appreciate it more for what it actually is. While it isn’t as venomous and nasty as some
of Solondz’s work, the story told in “Dark Horse” is actually pretty dark. In fact this film could probably only have
been made by Todd Solondz, because his voice in Hollywood is definitely
singular, no one makes films like him.
Again he shows us the lives of some rather unlikable losers and a lot of
bad stuff happens to them, and he gets us to laugh at it all, that is a talent
in and of itself.
Overall,
while it does have a very awkward patch towards the end, for the most part I
enjoyed Todd Solondz’s “Dark Horse”. Any
film that is able to make us care about the kind of losers we are given here,
as well as making a comedy out of it, depression, suicide, hepatitis, limb
amputation and death, well I guess it needs to be celebrated for what it is,
which is original.
3.5 Stars.
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