Clarissa Mora
The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.
Jemima
It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.
Kinley
This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
jamesledesma
"Dark Horse" is the best movie Todd Solondz has done since "Happiness". It took me two viewings to "get" it, but once I "got" it I have to say the movie has stayed with me. I now conclude that "Dark Horse" is a surrealist film in the tradition of late-era Bunuel and recent David Lynch. It has more in common with Solondz' "Palindromes" than any of his other work. It isn't meant to be taken literally. Like "Life During Wartime", which was a both a sequel and a re-imagining of "Happiness", the perspective is skewed and left unexplained until the very end. Unfortunately, the explanation isn't clear to those expecting a movie closer in spirit to "Welcome To The Dollhouse".Almost no one reviewing the movie here on IMDb goes into much detail over (here come the spoilers) Donna Murphy's character. It is, in fact, the crux of the movie: The film is mostly told through Marie's eyes. Abe's perspective is shown here and there (especially in the coma vision he has at Toys R Us) but if you see the majority of the film as Marie's fantasy of Abe-- her dark horse --navigating his fruitless life, then it makes much more poignant sense.Also, it's clear (to me at least) that, as obnoxious as Abe is, he is also the most un-self-conscious character in the movie, and therefore a relief to Marie and Miranda. At one point Miranda even asks him if he is for real; she wonders if his demeanor is a put-on, some sort of ironic act he is performing for her. When we meet Mahmoud for the first time, we understand why she asked: Mahmoud is as affected as Abe is unaffected. It is this unaffected poise that compels Marie to root for him, and also causes Miranda to realize that maybe she might care about things after all-- just not to Abe's liking, which is the tragedy of the movie. After infecting him with the disease that kills him, she cannot even bear to tell him what he wants to hear, and he dies shortly after. It all boils down to the last shot of Marie, daydreaming at work, perhaps dancing with her dark horse, the wrong horse to bet on, the one she was sure was going to break out and win. The revelation that Abe's dad also thought of him as a dark horse (in a scene that may or may not be from beyond the grave) ties it all together as well.I hope anyone who saw this movie and reviewed it here goes back and watches it again, because it is amazing. Even if you liked it, I think you might have missed something about it the first time around. Never has the phrase "rewards repeat viewings" actually meant something than with this dark horse of a movie.
grungepants
Although I am wasting time by writing this review hopefully it will help others to not waste there time on this worthless film.A law should be passed to jail people who make such bad movies.I thought it may have been just me who didn't enjoy it until i saw the other bad reviews and was grateful that other people aren't idiotic jerks who like awful movies.I hate everything about this film.Its so "look he's fat isn't that sad".Its funny how bad this film is so in that sense its a comedy.Its sad how pathetic the story and script are so in that sense its a "dark comedy".I'm feel sorry for the people who wasted there money on making this film because all they have to show for it is a 2 hour downer. -10000000/10
tommy-boyett
this is the worst movie ever made - i literally wanted to kill myself at the end - an absolute waste of two hours of my life that I can never get back....do not watch, or better yet buy it and set it on fire. the plot is absent, there is no point to even watch it. it jumps around so much and shows so much irrelevant and retarded content you don't know what is happening and I'm not sure if i even know what happened to this point. do yourself a favor and watch a porn, the story line is probably better.this is the worst movie ever made - i literally wanted to kill myself at the end - an absolute waste of two hours of my life that I can never get back....do not watch, or better yet buy it and set it on fire. the plot is absent, there is no point to even watch it. it jumps around so much and shows so much irrelevant and retarded content you don't know what is happening and I'm not sure if i even know what happened to this point. do yourself a favor and watch a porn, the story line is probably better.
Tony Heck
"Sweetie, we've written you off as a failure years ago." Abe (Gelber) is a toy collector and a slacker. In his 30's and still living at home with his parents and working for his father (Walken) he is not always happy. He meets Miranda (Blair) at a party and instantly falls in love. He asks her out once then proposes marriage. When a series of events begins Abe's life takes a strange turn. Having never seen a movie by Solondz before I was expecting this to be a comedy. I couldn't have been more wrong. The movie is OK but it's pretty depressing and Gelber does a really good job in this you really feel for his character. Selma Blair also does a pretty good job and they was she plays you are as confused about her as Abe is, which is probably the point. The acting really drives and helps the movie but to me the movie is just to slow moving to make it a high recommend. If you like Solondz movies then you will like this I'm guessing. To me it was OK but hard to get into. Overall, not bad but slow moving and I did get bored a little, up until the end. Which I was not expecting. I give it a C+.
