What would George Costanza of “Seinfeld” be like if he didn’t have a laugh track backing him up? This seems to be the premise of Todd Solondz’s draining portrait of a doughy, pathetic underachiever who still lives with his parents and attempts to date a woman with no demonstrable interest in him. Even in his fantasy life, he hears his mother (Mia Farrow) telling him, “She’s too good for you.”
Abe (Jordan Gelber), a 30-something toy collector who works for his dad (Christopher Walken) and lives in the shadow of his doctor brother (Justin Bartha), meets the profoundly depressed Miranda (Selma Blair) and decides he’ll marry her. As he courts his semi-comatose love interest, his flights of fancy become increasingly prevalent, featuring his dad’s mousy secretary (Donna Murphy) as a noir heroine.
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 (“Happiness,” “Welcome to the Dollhouse”). We don’t need to like Abe, but it’s unsettling to feel the director might actively dislike him.