Dark Horse

Title: Dark Horse
Director: Todd Solondz
Released: 2011

Staring: Jordan Gelber, Christopher Walken, Justin Bartha, Mia Farrow, Selma Blair, Donna Murphy

Plot: Set around Abe (Gelber) a thirty-something still lives at home, while working at his father’s (Walken) property development company, wasting away his day doing as little work as possible while constantly scouring the internet  for action figures to add to his ever expanding collection, while being pandered to by his loving mother (Farrow) and living in the shadow of his successful doctor brother (Bartha). However when he meets the heavily medicated Miranda (Selma Blair) an unusual relationship starts to blossom between them.


Review: To be a Todd Solondz fan is nothing short of a challenging experience, for he is one of a rare breed of directors who truly seems to be more focused on making films for himself, much like Robert Crumb only seems to make art for his own amusement, rather than any kind of target audience. Despite this Solenz still has managed to attract a cult like following with the warped black humour of his debut “Welcome to the Dollhouse” and its follow up “Happiness”, before challenging even those fans with “Palindromes”. Still despite claiming that his previous film “Life During Wartime” would be his last Solendz is now back with this latest and strangely less warped offering.

Missing any of his usual obsessions, but still maintaining a dusting of his usual dark humour aswell  his ongoing focus on the middle class New Jersey Jewish community, it could almost be seen that the enfant terrible of independent cinema might be mellowing with age, while at the same time still creating another curious films even if it’s missing any of his trademark use of knee jerk topics. However this is not to say that he has completely moved away from his dark roots as Abe is still just as challenging to like, especially he wallows in his own self-importance while generally being angry at the world with no real reason, especially when he seems to have someone to do even the most minimal of tasks, as frequently seen by co-worker and closet cougar Marie (Murphy) covering for him.

Gelber thankfully doesn’t overplay Abe as some kind of loveable loser in an attempt to win the audience back, especially as Solendz continually piles on further quirks, when we shown him huffily trying to return a scratched action figure, quickly leaping to threatening to sue the store when refused by the store clerk. With such continuous examples of self-centred behaviour it only makes it more the surprising that Abe could have a relationship with anyone, yet with Miranda he truly seems to believe that they have a future together so strongly that he actually proposes on their first date.

Blair as Miranda is sadly overshadowed by Abe, especially when her heavily medicated presence leaves her in a seemingly permanently comatose state, making you certainly question her real interest in Abe, especially when she never seemingly as a result of her medication ever really show any kind of emotion towards him. However this is far from any kind of traditional romance, once again thanks to Solondz who also chooses this moment to turn the film into a strange hallucinary trip as reality and illusion blur into one, with no clear indication for the most part what is actually real and what is in Abe’s mind, even more so when it comes to Abe’s relationship with Miranda, with the film certainly leaving more than a few questions in its wake. This style of filming again see’s Solondz trying to do something different than we have seen before and while perhaps he might not have the same surreal grip on his storytelling as David Lynch does with his equally mind-bending films, it still remains a watchable if slightly bewildering effort, while adding to the recent burst of films focusing on the live at home man child with mumblecore efforts like “Cyrus” and “Jeff Who Lives At Home”.

While this might be Gelber’s film he still recives strong support from his more establish co-stars in particular Walken who is seen here on a more laid back and softly spoken form, while punctuating his scenes with such long stares that he could no doubt beat owls in a staring contest.  Meanwhie Farrow comes out of her semi-retirement to give a non the less impressive turn as Abe’s doting mother who seemingly see’s him for his quirks and still loves him unconditionally, bringing back one of the key pieces of advice my own father gave me when he told me “Your mother is the best friend you will ever have” and for Abe this would be especially true.

For newcomers this might seem like the perfect introduction to Solendz work, but I would advise instead to brave one of his darker works like the aforementioned “Welcome To The Dollhouse” to see his true work, rather than this more experimental piece, which will challenge even the more die hard of his fan base, especially when it barely resembles any of his previous work, even more so when over the course of it’s short run time it seemingly never gets out of the gate story wise which even the most forgiving movie goer will struggle to get on board with, with Solendz’s characterisation no doubt testing what remains of their patience and as such I would recommend that you approach with caution.

Welcome To The Dollhouse

Title: Welcome To The Dollhouse
Director: Todd Solondz
Released: 1995
Staring: Heather Matarazzo, Matthew Faber, Daria Kalinina, Brendon Sexton Jr., Eric Mabius

Rating: 4 / 5

Plot: Seventh-grade is tough, especially if you’re Dawn Weiner (Matarzzo), facing constant hassle from the other kids, who frequently refer to her as “Weiner-Dog”, a situation not especially helped by her Nerdy older brother Mark (Faber), a sickeningly sweet Ballet obsessed younger sister (Kalinina) or the fact that her parents want to tear down her “Special People’s Club” clubhouse, she has to contend with all of this, while also at the same time harbouring a crush on Steve (Mabius) the older guy in her brothers band.



Review: The world of Todd Solondz is not an overly cheerful place, a feeling all the more assured by this film, which despite being his second feature, still won the grand jury prize at the 1996 Sundance Film Festive, back when it was still a festive celebrating raw indie talent, rather than the corporate playground it is these days, especially as it frequently becomes less about the films and more about whose in attendance. Still this film is Solondz, fierce argument against the sunny childhood nostalgia films, which traditionally tend to paint it as a happy go lucky time of your lives, before you’re chained to the baggage of adult life, as Solondz instead opts to paint a picture of grim realism, highlighted with only the darkest of humour, as he sets out to remind many of us of the hell of high school and just how cruel kids can be.

It’s so hard, having seen the films which Solondz has inspired in the wake of this movie, not to feel the urge to draw comparisions to films such as “Napoleon Dynamite” (2004) and in particular Terry Zwigoff’s “Ghost World” (2001) for which this feels more like Enid the early years, even more so when you look at the amount of similarities between the characters of Enid and Dawn, seeing how both frequently find themselves the target of their so called normal peers, for the way they look and dress, while at the same time carving out their own personal identity, as the world around them frequently strives to work against them. Still despite the fact by the end credits Solondz resists giving the shiny happy ending with everything tied up, your still sure that Dawn will go onto better things, later returning to pour scorn on those same tormentors, who will no doubt have been dragged down into menial jobs and failed dreams, though Solondz for his own twisted reasons, would ensure that things didn’t work out so well for Dawn, when he revisited her character in “Palindromes” (2004) whose opening revealed that she went to college, gained a lot of weight and committed suicide…..as I said Solondz doesn’t really do happy go lucky movies.

Solondz does a fantastic job of introducing what is essentially the day to day life of Dawn, opening in the school cafeteria as she struggles to find a seat, wandering through the minefield of social cliques, finally finding a seat only to then be told that the only reason it is free is because of someone threw up there earlier that day, followed soon after with an accusation of being a lesbian by a group of cheerleaders, clearly not only relishing the chance to turn her once again into the butt of the joke, but also clearly establishing who is truly at the top of the social pile. Still it is these moments, along with moments of her fellow students referring to each other as retards or faggots, which Roger Ebert (a man who I’m recently gaining increasing respect for) rightfully pointed out while proclaiming his personal love for the film, that these kids don’t see these labels as offence, but rather just another way to humiliate each other and it’s these details, which feel in many ways like Solondz, revisiting his own possibly bullied childhood, while at the same time feeling the urge to challenge his audience only further, by frequently pushing the boundaries of taste, with one particular tormentor Brandon (Sexton), openly threatening to rape Dawn, after reporting his attempt to copy exam questions from her to the teacher, though the way he states this is pretty much stated as an everyday kind of comment, while certainly providing one of numerous dark humoured moments scattered throughout, feel more natural than anything written to be intentionally funny.

Still despite a large focus being towards Dawn being targeted for being different, Solondz also looks at how she handles the typical problems of growing up, in particular her crush on Steve, who bizarrely somehow manages to turn her brothers band from a bunch of tone deaf wannabe’s into a fully functioning band after a single practice. Not knowing how to get Steve to like her, she instead follows a mixture of misguided advice from her brother, who assures in one scene that he will go out with any girl who is willing to put out, while also attempting her own seduction technique as she plies him with junk food. Still as clumsy and shocking as these scenes seem, they are a lot more grounded in reality, than the majority of high school dramas, featuring characters that spew out crafted dialogue and witty one liners, instead these are kids talking like kids actually talk, making this in so many ways almost like a study of human nature in general.

The main gripe I have with this film is with its final reel, in which it seems like Solondz has doubts about the story he has told already and for some reason decided to jam in a kidnapping storyline, which not only makes no sense, but also failed to capture my interest seeing how it’s only purpose seemed to cram in an extra shock factor, by having the kidnapping descriptions containing paedophile undertones, which are so subtle that only the most keen eared or repeat viewers will catch them, only making these scenes all the less needed.

I know a lot of people who don’t like this movie, finding it too dark or not getting its warped humour, but then I guess it depends on what sort of time you had at school, for those who found themselves to be the underdogs, usually tend to like this movie, while the more popular kids never seem to get it. Still I didn’t get “Napoleon Dynamite” which I found to be found excessively grating throughout, unlike this film which in many is the film it wishes it was.
Whether it pushes things to far out of a desire for sensationalism, or it’s a painfully true portrait of high school life can be debated, but the only true way of knowing is to watch it yourself, which I urge you all to do.