Dark Horse

Dark Horse

It was July 1 and I wanted to enjoy the total day. I walked to the AGO to take in the Picasso exhibit. I then walked to TIFF to catch this film about which I knew nothing. I was too early so I stopped at the David Pecaut Square to watch the Canadian Chinese Assoc. gearing up for a dragon parade. What fun!

This film is truly a dark horse and it wins in the end. It is a comic tragedy. I had a smile on my face during many scenes but underlying the total film is a dark pathetic story.

Adam is an overweight ‘teddy bear like’ man. He is pathetic. He lives with his parents. Mia Farrow and Christopher Walken play the roles of his parents. They are superb. The father is stern, doer and abusive verbally to his son who works for him. The mother babies her son as if he is a small child. I laughed at them through clenched teeth.

Adam wants to find success and true love. He meets a young lady, Miranda, at a wedding. She is obviously depressed and on drugs. A loser would be an apt description. He tells her he loves her and wants to marry her. She doesn’t love him but thinks he will provide security. Her parents are as strange as Adam’s family.

It is truly a laugh when the parents meet. They have nothing to say to one another and talk incessantly about the busy road they travelled in order to get to the meeting.

 It seems everything Adam tries is a failure. His bedroom is noteworthy. The wallpaper is a series of big red circles. I was nauseous looking at it even for a few minutes. He collected toys of various kinds. How he ever afforded the big yellow Hummer I can’t imagine.

Adam has a brother who is a successful doctor in California. The two brothers have absolutely nothing in common and argue over the phone when they speak.

A further problem arises when Miranda confesses she has a form of hepatitis that could be contagious.         

Much humor is provided by the father’s secretary. She is a hard working woman who goes to extra lengths to help Adam. She completes some of his assignments and helps him solve problems. You have the feeling that she is attracted to him.

At times it is hard to separate the fact and fiction. I had to wonder if it was something that Adam imagined or it was a real episode. The secretary keeps popping up in various scenes as if she is partly the story teller and also fulfilling Adam’s desires. She invites Adam into her home and we see a totally different picture of the secretary. It was all very refreshing and delightful.

The last part of the film takes an unexpected turn and then when I thought it had all concluded it takes another turn to really throw the viewer off base.

The film is written and directed by Todd Solondz. He is a very creative person. Adam may have been a dark horse in his family. This film is no dark horse. It is imaginative. emotional and well worth viewing.