Dark Horse

Description

Writer and director Todd Solondz (‘Welcome to the Dollhouse’, ‘Happiness’) examines the irretrievability of youth and the mercilessness of the passage of time in a dark and idiosyncratic comedy featuring an all-star cast led by Jordan Gelber (‘Boardwalk Empire’), Selma Blair (‘Hellboy’, ‘Cruel Intentions’), Academy Award® winner Christopher Walken, Mia Farrow (‘Rosemary’s Baby’), Justin Bartha (‘The Hangover’), Donna Murphy (‘Spider-Man 2,’ ‘Star Trek: Insurrection’) , Zachary Booth (‘The Beaver’) and Aasif Mandvi (‘Margin Call’, ‘The Daily Show’). Tempering his trademark lacerating humour with unexpected tenderness, Solondz creates a poignant and provocative portrait of two dysfunctional thirty-somethings, their plans to marry and a besieged man-child and his fractured family.In his mid-30s, Abe (Jordan Gelber) clings to the trappings of his adolescence, including the extensive collection of toys and action figures adorning his boyhood bedroom. Still living with his parents Jackie (Christopher Walken) and Phyllis (Mia Farrow), Abe works for his increasingly disappointed Dad and spends evenings ruthlessly trouncing his Mom at backgammon. His older brother Richard’s (Justin Bartha) success as a California doctor only feeds Abe’s resentment and rage at his family over his failures. When Abe meets Miranda (Selma Blair), whose personal and professional disasters have sent her scrambling back to the safety of her parents’ suburban home, he sees what he thinks is a chance at true love. Abe throws himself into pursuing the overmedicated Miranda, convincing her to marry him after a whirlwind courtship. But, as the couple haltingly prepares to start a new life together, the film swerves into Abe’s subconscious, where his crippling self-doubt and dark fears begin to undermine his nearly realized dream of a fuller life.