Todd Solondz is certainly not a director to shy away from unashamedly pointing out the flaws and problems his characters are burdened with, which characters he often seems simply to despise. His view of suburban America is confrontational, bare and desperate. Consequently, his films are often challenging and unpleasant, asking the viewer to witness openly the struggle and breaking-down of his characters. His new film, Dark Horse, is much the same, albeit with a more measured, even-handed, some might even say mature approach. And this time around, there is something more, something unspoken, about the story. Something, dare I say it, hopeful.
We first meet Abe (Jordan Gelber) at a wedding, sitting at a table with Miranda (Selma Blair), both staring into space, looking like the only way they could be sitting together less is if they were in different rooms. He asks her to dance, she says no. He asks her for her number, reluctantly she gives it to him. So begins their relationship.
This is our initial insight into Abe’s character. He is the eternal teenager, living with his parents in a bedroom filled with action figures. He works at his father’s real estate business, and spends his time on eBay bidding on action figures. His office assistant does all his work (more on her later) and his mother dotes on him. His is an existence filled with whining and a sense of self-entitlement. His father, played with cold, detached authority by an ageing Christopher Walken, seems to be the only character that can see through Abe’s man-child shield, but not beyond his failure. His office assistant, seems to be the only character who can see where Abe should really be going, even if she fails in getting him there.
Abe summons the courage to call Miranda (or was he at a loss?), though he doesn’t seem lacking in confidence, and arranges to meet her. Oddly, she agrees. On the spur of the moment, he asks her to marry him, and again, after a while she agrees. Then suddenly, just as things seem to be going right for Abe, Solondz shifts tones. Before he and Miranda can even start making plans for the wedding (apart from an awkward scene where the two of them consider moving into his room at his parent’s house), things begin to fall apart at work , there is something wrong with Miranda and her ex-husband Mahmoud (Aasif Mandvi) seems the only person able to make her smile and laugh. Needless to say, Abe’s reactions to all of this reinforces his identity as a thirty-five year old child.
Throughout all of this, there is a hint that something other than a satirical family drama is going on, we see Abe going into a bizarrely deserted Toys R Us (who’s large sign outside is optically censored – I’m not sure if this was done by the film-makers or not, though in Abe’s bedroom there is a bottle of Coke with its logo in a different language), staffed by just one man, and later a cosmic Mahmoud, in order to return a scratched action figure. He has no luck. There are no returns, there is no credit.
Dark Horse seems convincingly more enclosed, more intimate, drawing us into Abe’s personal familial hell (as opposed to the social nightmare of Welcome to the Dollhouse or the external point of view of Storytelling) and even the Solondzian harrowing, when it occurs, as we know it must, occurs in the presence of just one other person, Miranda. Even this moment, however, is oddly positive, with the humiliation occurring in retrospect and its effects of Abe consequently more uplifting than crushing.
At this point, without giving too much away, things take a turn for the odd. The film gradually withdraws into fantasy, and the further into fantasy the narrative falls, the more uplifting its message. Eventually, when the story reaches its only possible conclusion, we are given a choice of ending, and as Abe revisits scenes from the past, the consequences of which ending we choose to accept are shown, and it is up to us to decide if we made the right choice, or so I would like to believe.
Technically, like much of Solondz’s work, there is not a lot of visual flair; scenes are functional and fluid without being flamboyant, yet the film still looks remarkable. A lot of this will be down to the cast. Jordan Gelber is utterly believable as the often incredulous Abe, bringing to what could otherwise be a very dour performance a certain manic humanity. The fantastic Donna Murphy is wonderful as Abe’s office assistant, constant moral companion, connector of dots and ravisher. Indeed, the entire cast is spot on, but Christoper Walken, as the icy, stoic, almost military patriarch steals every scene he is in, opposite John Waters’ version of Mia Farrow as Abe’s mother.
I can’t say as I’ve ever really been a fan of Solondz’s films; I’ve found the satire often too obtuse and unengaging, and the characters beyond interest, but with Dark Horse, everything is spot on, and Solondz has shown himself to be operating at a level well above many other young American directors. It is thought-provoking, entertaining and emotional.
I can heartily recommend Dark Horse to anyone with a sense of bitter absurdity, fans of American social satire or anybody who likes a well made, cerebral piece of cinema. The DVD itself, assuming the screener I received is like the final version, has the usual high quality picture and sound, but the only bonus feature is the trailer (which I’ve never seen the need for).
Dark Horse is out on DVD on September 24th, from Axiom Films.
Director: Todd Solondz
Stars: Jordan Gelber, Selma Blair, Christopher Walken, Mia Farrow, Zachary Booth, Aasif Mandvi
Running Time: 86 min
Country: USA
Film Rating: 
