Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

MartinHafer "Don't think about it...do it or shut up about it"...the words of Abe's co-worker when he talks about killing himself.Back in 1995, Todd Solondz made "Welcome to the Dollhouse". It certainly was not a feel-good film but was incredibly insightful and Solondz showed a deft hand at directing and writing a story about a troubled teen. Because it was so well made, I decided to watch another one of his films, "Dark Horse"...but was really disappointed. Like his previous film, it was incredibly depressing but also presented characters I really didn't care for in the least. Abe is a 30-something loser. He's a fat slob who lives with his parents and he is essentially very much like Comic Book Man from "The Simpsons". At first, your heart hurts for the lonely guy...but through the course of the film you realize he's not worth caring about because he's so self-absorbed and has a sense of entitlement. What ultimately happens to him is really a downer...but not as sad as it could have been because I didn't care...I just wanted it to end.Overall, a disappointing film and I wish I could have that 90 minutes or so of my life back.

ktyson9426 I don't know if "Dark Horse" was the most appropriate title for this movie. The term to me implies an outside chance of a win. When the movie starts off, Abe seems like a lovable loser that was pampered and emotionally stunted by his parents. He's a 35 year old man-child that lives in his childhood bedroom, collects toys, and works at his fathers company with non-existent job responsibilities and labors under the delusion he's cooler and more important to everyone around him than he really is. Abe meets his equal in Miranda, his self defeated love interest at a wedding. Abe's ignorance and self obsessed desires doesn't let him see that Miranda has no interest in him as he pushes himself onto her. She only becomes interested when she recognizes he's a bigger loser than she is, and won't pose a threat to her already battered self esteem. She succumbs to her fate as a self loathing loser and accepts his proposal of marriage a week after they meet.In the beginning I was rooting/expecting for Abe to see he was his own worst enemy, and to reverse the course of his life. Unfortunately, the longer the film plays out the more I hated Abe and he losses his lovable loser status. He quickly slams into becoming an obnoxious, self indulgent, entitled loser, throwing tantrums and fits as he blames everyone around him for his faults and failures. His world starts to implode and crumble as it becomes apparent to him that he is the loser everyone see's him as. This sets up a whole barrage of self induced fantasies he uses to try and explain why he's not a loser. Ultimately, it ends like a reverse "It's a Wonderful Life" and with the harsh realization that his life never mattered and everyone is better off without him.I watched this film not only from the morbid entertainment value, but also from a weird psychological standpoint. I know a 30 year old man- child that works for his father and lives in his childhood bedroom. Somehow, this guy I know, like the character in the film, refuses to see himself for what he is and acts like an obnoxious, self indulgent, entitled loser that thinks he's cooler than he really is and blames everyone around him for his faults and failures. It offered me quiet a bit on insight to his world.

SnoopyStyle Abe (Jordan Gelber) is an angry, self-loathing, petty slob loser. He dropped out of college and fell into a job in his father's company. Miranda (Selma Blair) is a depressed divorced woman forced to retreat back home. They meet at a wedding and Abe can't help but start the stalking. Miranda is broken and she just might go with Abe even if she doesn't love him.Todd Solondz does another movie on another socially awkward underclass. The biggest problem with this movie is the Abe character. He is too angry, too petty. He has no redeeming qualities. If he wasn't so pathetic, I would be rooting for somebody to put a bullet in him. Do I care about him? Not the slightest. Another problem is the surreal turns it takes for the last half. That kind of storyline never really works for me.

meeza Writer-Director Todd Solondz's latest chapter on depicting duds is "Dark Horse". Solondz continues to giddy-up on those who emotionally struggle while others intensify their misery to worsen with their harsh comments. "Dark Horse" stars Jordan Gelber as Abe, a 30-something overweight slacker who still lives with his wealthy parents and also works at a real estate corporation owned by his papa. Not-Honest Abe is lazy in his job, egotistical in his mentality, and charmless in his persona. He also has a huge toy collection; most of them collector's items from the 80's. Anyways, I don't think this "dark horse" of a man-child will get a spectacular bid by the female population for companionship. Abe meets in a wedding a pretty but melancholy woman named Miranda. Miraculously enough or unbelievably enough (take your pick), Miranda takes a liking to Abe and even accepts his wedding proposal. Maybe, Mr. Abe the Dark Horse is hung as a "dark horse". Anyways, moving right along; Abe's mother Phyllis continues to smother him and treat him like a 10 year old, I wonder if she is Cuban? Abe's father Jackie on the other hand has little confidence in Abe due to Abe's lackadaisical ways, and even considers firing him. Abe's brother Richard is a successful good-looking doctor who Abe despises and has a rocky relationship with. Can jealousy be part of that sibling chaos? You think? "Dark Horse" gets out to a rousing start with Solondz' successfully running the "Dark Horse" with sharp writing and direction. But then towards the third act of the film, Solondz derails the "Dark Horse" on the wrong track with unnecessary stale scenes that makes the "Dark Horse" lose it by much more than a nose. I thought the acting of the film was strong. The Gelber Big-Baby (sorry Jordan) Jordan Gelber excelled in his starring performance as Abe. Selma Blair was all there with her effort as Miranda. Veteran thespians Christopher Walken and Mia Farrow were straight as an arrow with their solid work as Abe's parents, Phyllis and Jackie. And Justin Bartha was a believable brother from the same Abe father & mother with his work as Richard. Call it Murphy's Law, but I think Solondz should have cut out completely Donna Murphy's work as a middle-aged secretary who is utilized as a "voice of reason" or in this case more "a voice of reality"; I can understand what Solondz was trying to do, but the whole concept lacked originality mostly due to Murphy's stale performance. "Dark Horse" will not be a dark horse at the next Academy Awards. But I still think you should get on your high horse, and give it a ride. *** Average