Dark Horse

solondz creates one of the most unlikeable (yet believable) characters possible, and then continues to destroy him completely (to the point where he isn't so 'unlikeable' anymore). i was laughing almost constantly throughout this film, to the point of tears. casting/production/soundtrack/direction all add perfectly to the ironic feel of this film. an important film for a new and very 'post-modern/post-ironic/whatever you want to call it' style of cinema

Honestly a fascinating exploration of incels before that was a coherent identity, and of suburban American masculinity in the twilight of the 2000s

Not good, but not as bad as Life After Wartime. Mostly agree with eCitizen's take, except the part about the music, which was the worst.

This got relatively weak reviews, but I honestly feel it stands alongside Solondz' best, a fantastically judged portrait of a social misfit contrasting dark, dark overtones with a bouncing power-pop soundtrack

Todd being Todd, but a bit toned down. Wish it was his more usual fucked up, but still a very solid, awkward movie: the unnerving vibes are there, the uncomfortable is palpable

I enjoyed the atmosphere and awkward vibes, typical of Todd Solondz, but I found it all a tad obvious. It says what it wants to say, which is no small feat, just not in a very interesting way.

Is Solondz softening his style in his old age? Please don't go John Waters on me... His themes of awkwardness, alienation, and repression work much better with his earlier hard-edged style. I just couldn't figure out what he was trying to do with this one.

A strange one. As an idiosyncratic critique of Western consumerism it is effective. Directly taking aim at the nature of collecting, finding self-worth in owning things instead of earning them. It works. However I think this mostly fails as a character study. All of the casting is too hyperbolized and the story itself is messy, stylistically bored, and at times incomprehensible. I think Solondz needs to try something completely new.

Well-done acting and promising first act are undone by the last 30-45min which are unsatisfying and don't have much emotional resonance.

viewed 8 years later in 2019, Dark Horse has become significantly more chilling. people who think this is an optimistic film are wrong. do not confuse empathy and optimism. i don't think it's that ironic either, just a tremendously sad and honest portrait of western consumerism (not to be a post-marxist cliche or anything).

(Viewed in 2012): Solondz is the negative flipside of Apatow: in his world, arrested development has serious consequences. Gelber impresses as Abe, a socially awkward 30 something manchild who collects toys and is selfish and entitled. He becomes romantically involved with his better looking female equivalent while his life goes down the drain. It's a tragi-comic look at a man seemingly predestined to fail, and Solondz takes pity on him in way that suggests he might be softening with age. Good.

Emotional masochism

This movie may be my second favourite after 'Happiness". Solondz is the master painter of humor and pathos. One scene had me erupt into laughter, and sometimes that's all it takes.

no. not for me. the pacing or something is too slow. i don't like the main dude. i know i'm not supposed to like him, but still. i can't get over it enough to enjoy myself

Diluted Solondz. Although the movie has some potential, the second part with the increased fantasy sequences just didn't work for me.

Selma Blair somber and in a pit of despair, Christopher Walken hamstrung by a forgettable role, Mia Farrow as a co-dependent mother, and Jordan Gelber is an unlikable overweight immature annoying jerk. This movie has nothing much going for it except for a bit of irony and some good music. Frequently tedious. By the end, I really couldn't care less about these characters. The story is told in a fractured and confused way with too many cuts and confusing dream sequences. Unsatisfying.

Typically misanthropic yet curiously satisfying and incisive, Dark Horse is a movie that preaches to the cynical converted.

65.500

For a pretty sharp 82 minutes, Solondz manages to, in an extremely modern fashion, cover quite a few very universal issues -- giving up on hope, egocentrism, the selfishness of love, fantasy/self-deprecation distorting reality. Fun, fun, fun! Solondz is a genius.

Fucking Solondz did it again. This guy seems to be always on the edge of something. There wasn't anything like Happiness back in the late 1990s, and I have never heard of anything like Dark Horse. Solondz this came up with this asshole of a character and in the end you are giving your hearth out for him. This is just incredible cinema.

Solondz is falling disconcertingly into self-parody at this point. The humor is still relatively satisfying in his usual (somewhat superficially) misanthropic way, but there is a stuntedness to his aesthetics and worldview that strangely mirrors that of the film's protagonist. Where Storytelling and Palindromes were genuinely challenging, and Life During Wartime was at least conceptually intriguing, his newest film is mostly just perplexing.

"Yesterday, Solondz blocking the screen meant something, even if it was just his own petulance. Today, a blurred sign only signifies his capitulation to peer pressure." - Ed Gonzalez

I was dissapointed by this, but it still has something to offer... maybe a wake up call for somebody..