6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Romance blooms between two people in arrested development: an avid toy collector who is the dark horse of her family and a depressed woman on the rebound.
Starring: Jordan Gelber, Selma Blair, Christopher Walken, Donna Murphy, Justin BarthaDark humor | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A memorable exchange in Todd Solondz's 1998 tour de force, Happiness, occurs between Helen, an icy, self-absorbed beauty and her mousy, emotionally needy sister with the ironic name of Joy. "I'm not laughing at you", says Helen, "I'm laughing with you." To which Joy faintly protests: "But I'm not laughing!" The narrow space where the sisters don't connect is where Solondz always seems to be aiming: a point where it's possible to laugh, but you're not sure it's the right thing to do. The danger of such a pursuit, especially for a filmmaker of Solondz's icy precision, is that it doesn't allow an audience the relief that uninhibited laughter provides. Snorts of derision aren't a lot of fun, and pinning up self-deluded, hopeless lives to be studied like butterflies in a collection isn't most viewers' idea of entertainment, which is why Solondz remains confined to the arthouse. Even Happiness, which got laughs with shock effects, grotesquerie and violence (mostly imaginary), failed to attract a wider audience. Dark Horse is a more modestly scaled effort, and it doesn't have much of a plot. But it's a fascinating film, because it's the first time that Solondz has applied his considerable talent for depicting broken lives without a hint of mockery. The protagonist of Dark Horse, Abe Westheimer, is pitiful, self-destructive, self-deluding and childish in the extreme. He's also a deeply melancholy man who has seen life pass him by and knows in his bones that he will never catch up. Branded a "dark horse" from an early age, he keeps trying to compete, even as he feels that the race is already over. Jordan Gelber, until now a supporting player in movies and TV, gives an award-worthy performance by making this unappealing character a fully rounded human being—and how often does one reach for that phrase in describing someone in a film by Todd Solondz?
Dark Horse bears all the marks of digital photography, and after this review was posted, I was contacted by someone who worked on the film, who confirmed that the film was shot with the Red system. The cinematographer was the talented Andrij Parekh, whose effective intermingling of film and digital was essential to the aesthetic of the haunting Blue Valentine. As he so often does, Solondz has situated his dark tale in a superficially cheerful suburban world, and the image on Virgil Films's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray aptly conveys the brightly lit surroundings that merely serve to emphasize the black hole of Abe's life. Noise is wholly absent, blacks are deep and solid, and detail is so good that toy and memorabilia enthusiasts may want to pause the disc during scenes in Abe's bedroom to admire his collections. (The life-size gremlin in his office is also impressive.) Bright primary colors dominate Abe's favorite places, including Toys "R" Us, er, the toy store, but even his father's office looks brighter and more inviting than your typical dingy bean counter's affair. Abe drives a bright yellow Hummer, because, apparently, that's just one of the many toys that sustains his interest in clinging to the edge of the abyss. A BD-25 is more than sufficient to accommodate this 86-minute film with no extras.
The film's DTS-HD MA 5.1 track is serviceable and front-oriented with clear dialogue and a general sense of ambiance, but no real use of discrete effects in the rear channels. The film has no separate score but features a distinctive soundtrack anchored by the recurrent track "Who You Wanna Be", written and performed by Michael Kisur.
The disc contains no extras.
There has always been a Diane Arbus quality to Solondz's work, and the screenshots accompanying this review should confirm its continuation in Dark Horse. The hair and make-up for Christopher Walken and Mia Farrow, and the hollow-eyed affect of Selma Blair (to take the most obvious examples) are visual grotesques that would have fit easily into an Arbus portfolio. In stark contrast, though, is the visual treatment of Jordan Gelber's Abe, who, even at his most despairing, appears animated and visually vital, perhaps more so than any other character in the film. The thematic tension between the visual message and the narrative line is yet one more sign that Solondz is entering a new phase of his development as a filmmaker. Not recommended as a blind buy, but essential viewing for anyone interested in the progress of one of American cinema's most original talents.
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