Romance blooms between two thirty-somethings in arrested development: an avid toy collector and a woman who is the dark horse of her family.
Though more forgiving than previous Solondz films, Dark Horse is too slight to herald a wholesale change of direction. Yet it’s still worth catching, if only for Walken’s terrible toupee.
Less confrontational than most Solondz movies, in that it refrains from violence or kink, but still unsettling and affecting.
No Solondz classic; but nasty-nice, beautiful (sort of) and deftly crafted.
This witheringly deadpan lark.
After the death-metal of emotional horror in his earlier movies, Solondz gives us quieter chamber music in a minor key.
A film that blurs reality and fantasy, inviting our laughter but also earning our sympathy.
Dark Horse hasn't the ensemble brilliance and emotional daring of Happiness but it does at least uphold the film-maker's status as a one-off.
Full of laughs, and plenty of biting home truths.
New Todd Solonz film is supremely dark and disturbing suburbia satire.
It’s brutal to watch, and perhaps mercifully short.
Outrageously gloomy, and of course it goes too far, but this is Solondz back on form for a comedy like no other.
Todd Solondz delivers a much more engaging portrait of suburban mediocrity in Dark Horse, albeit one that’s still fairly pitiable.
Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee from Friday July 20, 2012, until Sunday July 22, 2012. More info: www.dca.org.uk
Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow from Friday August 10, 2012, until Sunday August 12, 2012. More info: http://www.glasgowfilm.org/theatre/
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