MUBI brings you a great new film every day.  Start your 7-day free trial today!
Watch a new film every day for $4.99.
Try MUBI for FREE.
 

Dark Horse

United States

2011

84 Min
Color
1.85:1
English
  • Currently 3.1/5 Stars.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

   |   

DIR Todd Solondz

EXEC Nick Quested

PROD Ted Hope, Derrick Tseng

SCR Todd Solondz

DP Andrij Parekh

CAST Jordan Gelber, Selma Blair, Christopher Walken, Mia Farrow, Donna Murphy, Justin Bartha, Aasif Mandvi, Zachary Booth, Mary Joy, Lee Wilkof, Di Quon, Tyler Maynard, Peter McRobbie, Bobby Steggert, Ronald Scott Maestri

ED Kevin Messman

PROD DES Alex DiGerlando

SOUND Eric Offin

Venice (Competition), Toronto (Special Presentations), London (Film on the Square), Abu Dhabi (Narrative Feature Competition), Göteborg (Gala), !F Istanbul (Hit Films), CPH PIX (Seriously Funny), Karlovy Vary (Horizons)

Synopsis

Thirtysomething guy with Arrested Development falls for thirtysomething girl with Arrested Development, but moving out of his junior high school bedroom proves too much. Tragedy ensues. –Venice Film Festival

Director

Original

Todd Solondz

Solondz’s first color film with sync sound was the short “Schatt’s Last Shot” (1985). Solondz played a high schooler who wants to get into Stanford, but cannot because his sadistic gym teacher fails him. He also has no luck seducing the girl he desires. It was a student film, and is still screened at NYU, where Solondz made it.

Solondz’s first feature was Fear, Anxiety & Depression (1989), a piece about a writer (Solondz) writing a play and sending it to Samuel Beckett.

Solondz found great critical acclaim with his second feature, Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995), a film about the cruelty of junior high school, parents, adult figures, and suburban life. The film won awards at Sundance, Berlin, and countless other festivals for its cruel realism, bitter humor, and unflinching portrayal of adolescence.

His third feature effort, Happiness (1998), was a wildly edgy and provocative film. The film revolves around a group of people who are miserable in their conventional… read more

Wall

Displaying 4 of 31 wall posts.
Picture of skiptracer

skiptracer

22Mar13

Mia Farrow's face melted off. However, this is a nice return to form for Solondz. A little more tender than most of his films, but still stands as a scathing and biting portrayal of a pathetic character brought into a pathetic life, influenced by a pathetic culture.

Picture of marcorenton

marcorenton

15Feb13

eh...Diet Coke!

Picture of film_lies101

film_lies101

3Feb13

A very welcome return for Solondz after the boring, tepid 'War During Lifetime'. This film eviscerates the popular "man child" comedies of the aughties and leaves the guts to rot in the sun. My only compliant is that Solodnz gives main character an easy out at the end. Selma Blair plays a role we have seem before, but she perfects it here. Christopher Walken plays one his best roles.

skiptracer likes this

Picture of Matthew Martens

Matthew Martens

27Jan13

In contrast to the more successful efforts of Kaufman and Gondry, Dark Horse's fantasy elements feel inessential and grafted on, like slightly desperate attempts to develop narrative interest out of stubbornly inert materials. And in contrast to the more successful efforts of Apatow and his ilk, Dark Horse's stabs at the comedy of arrested surbanity rarely elicit more than a chuckle. The black hole of Selma Blair's face, however, delivers precisely the beauty and terror it promises.

Angeline Gragasin likes this

  • Picture of skiptracer

    skiptracer

    22Mar13

    "The black hole of Selma Blair's face, however, delivers precisely the beauty and terror it promises." well said.

  • Picture of Matthew Martens
  • Picture of Joks

    Joks

    17Apr13

    Yeah but Apatow doesn't come close to capturing the bleak and uncomfortable truths that Solondz does here.

  • Picture of Matthew Martens

    Matthew Martens

    17Apr13

    Agreed, although it's probably not a fair comparison -- I'm not aware of Apatow essaying the kind of really cutting, curdled satire for which Solondz is known (and of which I have been a grateful fan for years.) I just felt that DH fell short both on Solondz' own terms and on those of the filmmakers it sends up.

Related Films

Fans

Displaying 5 of 127 fans.

Articles

Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.
W184

Toronto 2011. Days Three and Four

By Dan Sallitt on September 13, 2011

Strong films by Karim Aïnouz, Julia Loktev, and Alejandro Landes, and disappointments from Todd Solondz, Whit Stillman, and Guo Xiaolu.

read article
W184

Venice and Toronto 2011. Todd Solondz's "Dark Horse"

By David Hudson on September 5, 2011

Dark Horse “might just represent the warmest film Solondz is capable of making.”

read article

Lists

Displaying 5 of 131 lists.

Reviews

Displaying 3 of 3

[Last Film I Saw] Dark Horse

By lasttim​eisaw on July 27, 2012

Title: Dark Horse
Year: 2011
Language: English
Country: USA
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Director: Todd Solondz
Writer: Todd Solondz
Cast:
Jordan Gelber
Salma Blair
  read review

At his most mainstream

By MR. Univers​e on June 15, 2012

Romance blooms between two thirty-somethings in arrested development: an avid toy collector and a woman who is the dark horse of her family.

The film is perfectly titled which teaches us in…  read review

TIFF HIGHLIGHT #3 Solondz' Best Movie Since Storytelling

By Marcus WP on September 14, 2011

This is the first Todd Solondz film in 10 years that isn’t connected to any of his previous work (Palindromes being the sequel to Welcome To The Dollhouse and Life During Wartime being the sequel to…  read review

Forum

Displaying 0 discussion topics.