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DARK HORSE (2012)Movie Reviews
Drama comedy about a 35-year-old underachiever who finds romance of sorts with a depressed young woman. Cast:Jordan Gelber, Selma Blair, Justin Bartha, Mia Farrow, Christopher WalkenDirector:Todd SolondzRelease Date:June 8, 2012DVD Release:November 13, 2012From:Brainstorm MediaLength:1 hr. 24 min.
Dark Horse (2012) played in key cities to very good reviews. • Richard Corliss wrote in Time, "...damned if the writer-director doesn't find humanity, and the scalding sympathy of wild humor... Todd Solondz's most waywardly endearing film, his gentlest triumph." • And Colin Covert wrote in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, "You may want to put it out of your mind when it's over, but it won't stay there." More Reviews Below...
Dark Horse (2012) Positive Reviews (32 Reviews, reviews below)
Richard Corliss, Time: EXCELLENT "...damned if the writer-director doesn't find humanity, and the scalding sympathy of wild humor... Todd Solondz's most waywardly endearing film, his gentlest triumph."(See all of Richard Corliss's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 520 words, 09/09/11
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: MODERATE(cg) "...why is director Todd Solondz still mucking around with the sort of idiot neurotic dweeb who makes George Costanza look like George Clooney?"(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 83 words, 06/22/12
Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com: OUTSTANDING(cg) "We feel contempt. We feel pity. We shudder and identify. It is a vortex drawing us down into dark defeat and yet admitting glimmers of hope."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 628 words, 06/22/12
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (13 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: OUTSTANDING "...brilliantly transforms what might have been an exercise in easy satirical cruelty into a tremendously moving argument for the necessity of compassion."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 876 words, 06/08/12
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "It ultimately wanders too far out there, but before that it's quirky and curious enough to be happening in any house next door."(See all of Joe Neumaier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 346 words, 06/08/12
Stephanie Zacharek, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "...a glum little sort-of comedy brushed with melancholic sweetness... Modest and mildly entertaining, it's a miniature portrait of a potentially jumbo-sized failure."(See all of Stephanie Zacharek's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 422 words, 07/27/12
Sara Stewart, New York Post: MODERATE(cg) "...draining... It's a typical Solondz sad-sack tale, but this film seems to be disgusted by its own characters, which isn't true of the director's best work."(See all of Sara Stewart's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 179 words, 06/08/12
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: VERY GOOD(cg) "...without turning soft Solondz allows Abe a measure of grace amid his rage. Blair is particularly memorable as a fogged-in, delayed-reaction deadpan wonder."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 375 words, 06/22/12
John Anderson, New York Newsday: VERY GOOD(cg) "...even though Todd Solondz' latest journey into suburban dysfunction may seem dark (and is), it's also about joy, and how easily it's wasted."(See all of John Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 314 words, 06/22/12
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: OUTSTANDING "The discomfort you'll experience is nothing compared to the exhilaration of seeing the world through Solondz's angry, sad, mordant but never-ever cynical specs."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 976 words, 06/08/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "We feel contempt. We feel pity. We shudder and identify. It is a vortex drawing us down into dark defeat and yet admitting glimmers of hope."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 628 words, 06/22/12
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: MODERATE "...neither incisively black-comic nor particularly attuned to human behavior -- proof that some directors, at least, do end up the way they started out."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 245 words, 06/06/12
Kate Taylor, Toronto Globe & Mail: VERY GOOD(cg) "...what makes 'Dark Horse' interesting is not its brutal honesty about its characters... but rather Solondz's way of dangling narrative hooks only to withdraw them."(See all of Kate Taylor's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 631 words, 06/29/12
Karina Longworth, LA Weekly: EXCELLENT "...oddly moving... The origami-like narrative is precariously hinged on a trope borrowed from midcentury soap opera, but its dismantling of otherness is graceful."(See all of Karina Longworth's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 253 words, 07/26/12
Susan G. Cole, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...walks the line between humour and despair, keeping the audience off-balance with unlikeable characters doing all the wrong things."(See all of Susan G. Cole's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 166 words, 06/28/12
KEY CITIES (9 Reviews)
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: MODERATE(cg) "...pivots around Solondz's characters' delusions... suggests that it's time for the bard of bourgeois hypocrisy to consider moving on."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 491 words, 08/17/12
Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer: VERY GOOD(cg) "...enacts an odd - and, at times, oddly endearing - love story.... Solondz tempers his ironic gaze and satiric edge with real humanity."(See all of Tirdad Derakhshani's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 482 words, 07/13/12
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: VERY GOOD(cg) "...funny, shocking, emotionally probing.... You may want to put it out of your mind when it's over, but it won't stay there."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 413 words, 07/27/12
Mark Feeney, Boston Globe: WEAK(cg) "Abe's deeply unhappy, angry at the world, and resoundingly unsympathetic. That last quality may earn Todd Solondz points for honesty, but it's death to comedy..."(See all of Mark Feeney's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 502 words, 08/10/12
Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: VERY GOOD(cg) "Plotlines that start to satisfy, attitudes that start to make sense, are ruthlessly upended.... it's hard not to look anyway."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 476 words, 06/08/12
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: VERY GOOD(cg) "...doesn't end on an entirely cheerful note... but the film is strangely optimistic and at times borders ever-so-slightly on the whimsical. Who knew Solondz had this in him?"(See all of Rene Rodriguez's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 610 words, 08/10/12
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (8 Reviews)
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: MODERATE "...neither incisively black-comic nor particularly attuned to human behavior -- proof that some directors, at least, do end up the way they started out."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 245 words, 06/06/12
Miles Bowe, Boston Phoenix: VERY GOOD(cg) "...offers some surreal fun. Solondz is trying new things, like the wonderfully glitzy pop music soundtrack, which make 'Dark Horse' shine."(See all of Miles Bowe's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 161 words, 08/09/12
Karina Longworth, LA Weekly: EXCELLENT "...oddly moving... The origami-like narrative is precariously hinged on a trope borrowed from midcentury soap opera, but its dismantling of otherness is graceful."(See all of Karina Longworth's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 253 words, 07/26/12
Scott Tobias, AV Club: VERY GOOD(cg) "The scenes between Gelber and Blair are the strongest, because they form a bond not out of shared interests or passion, but a weary kind of compromise."(See all of Scott Tobias's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 461 words, 06/07/12
Jesse Hassenger, Pop Matters: MODERATE(cg) "...as grimly funny and observant as Solondz can be, there's nothing inherently interesting about showing that someone never really had a chance."(See all of Jesse Hassenger's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 803 words, 06/15/12
Alison Willmore, Movieline: EXCELLENT(cg) "...does feel like a return to the fearless darkness of Solondz's earlier films, a tale of a loser who's fully drawn but never allowed to be lovable."(See all of Alison Willmore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 865 words, 06/07/12
Ed Gonzalez, Slant: WEAK(cg) "...regresses to a state of absolute listlessness... a series of ill-conceived sketches puttering lethargically into one another and toward a halfhearted conclusion."(See all of Ed Gonzalez's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 667 words, 06/03/12
Susan G. Cole, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...walks the line between humour and despair, keeping the audience off-balance with unlikeable characters doing all the wrong things."(See all of Susan G. Cole's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 166 words, 06/28/12
HIGHBROW PRESS (4 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: OUTSTANDING "...brilliantly transforms what might have been an exercise in easy satirical cruelty into a tremendously moving argument for the necessity of compassion."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 876 words, 06/08/12
David Denby, New Yorker: VERY GOOD "...with Solondz's new tender mercies fully engaged, Gelber makes you feel close to a guy for whom nothing was ever meant to go right."(See all of David Denby's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 408 words, 06/12/12
Ian Buckwalter, NPR: GOOD "...largely succeeds as yet another installment in Todd Solondz's career-long examination of the lust for love and security among the deeply damaged."(See all of Ian Buckwalter's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 677 words, 06/07/12
Stephanie Zacharek, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "...a glum little sort-of comedy brushed with melancholic sweetness... Modest and mildly entertaining, it's a miniature portrait of a potentially jumbo-sized failure."(See all of Stephanie Zacharek's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 422 words, 07/27/12
MOVIE INDUSTRY (3 Reviews)
Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: WEAK "...the film's extreme negativity is sometimes laughable... feels like something fished out of writer-director Todd Solondz's desk drawer."(See all of Todd McCarthy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 703 words, 09/07/11
Stephanie Zacharek, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "...a glum little sort-of comedy brushed with melancholic sweetness... Modest and mildly entertaining, it's a miniature portrait of a potentially jumbo-sized failure."(See all of Stephanie Zacharek's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 422 words, 07/27/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: OUTSTANDING "...brilliantly transforms what might have been an exercise in easy satirical cruelty into a tremendously moving argument for the necessity of compassion."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 876 words, 06/08/12
18.6 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Dark Horse (2012)'s reviews are separated by an average 18.6 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Dark Horse (2012) (32 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Dark Horse (2012)'s reviews cover 50.7% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 15,458 words involume (average is 20,172 words). Length:The film's reviews average 483 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 52 Days Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Dark Horse (2012)'s reviews on average broke 52 days before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Dark Horse (2012)'s opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Dark Horse (2012) (32 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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