Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

James There is no doubt that we need morality plays in our lives (and this well-acted and well-staged film feels very much like a play). Furthermore, we need morality plays to be nuanced enough to not come over as sermons - if we want the latter we can go any time free of charge on a Sunday and see them done by the real experts! The problem with the nuancing in "Solitary Man" is that we get too many messages that are too mixed. We don't need a film to remind us that advancing age demands some changes of approach and behaviour, and yet on many levels Ben Kalmen played here by Michael Douglas (rather "ouch"-worthily given recent real-life news concerning the actor) proves that there CAN be many a good tune played on an old fiddle. After all, the guy proves influential enough with university-age young people to get one - a pretty sexy portrayal by Imogen Poots - into the sack, and to successfully convince another - well-acted by Jesse Eisenberg - to make a change of lifestyle that works quite spectacularly well for him. For the same reasons, these aspects at least do not convince us very effectively that being a sex addict and pretending to be eternally youthful are mistakes! There IS a comeuppance in fact, and Kalmen even gets beaten up and severely threatened for his pains, but it's not - quite - enough for we the viewers to recognise the need for a change of ways. Admittedly, addiction to sex is not Kalmen's only failing - he has also been regularly too busy for his family and (few) friends (notably a lovely guy called Jimmy Merino who Danny DeVito plays so genuinely and warmly that we feel we are encountering a different species from that represented by most other characters in the film). For Kalmen has had a single-minded addiction to business that moved (at some vital point) from genuine success to "success" built increasingly on corrupt methods. Here the film ought to have it easy, given that - while we chastise (but perhaps secretly envy) a sex addict, we all hate crooks. The snag here comes with the overwhelming impression - generated by the 50% of the film devoted to the world of business - that, "they are all at it, and Kalmen differs only in having been unlucky enough to get caught". Thus, when others in the car-dealership trade, bankers and so on turn their backs on Kalmen, we tend to feel sorry for him, and chastise those around him for their small-minded meanness, knowing that their professed interest in clean behaviour is just hypocrisy. So much, then, for this element of the morality play! However, in writing "at some vital point" in the above part of the description, I allude to what could have made the film more of a winner - the fact that Kalmen's descent into both corruption and sexual excess was not brought on by the ageing process alone, but by a more concrete aspect of that process associated with doubts about his health. This would have been something interesting to ponder on, but here the film lets us down badly, since it leaves "us out here" with Kalmen's own version of events, which is that he never wished to know - and so never did know - if he was really ill, just opting to act as if every day might be his last, without even knowing the veracity of the suspicion, given that there was no full diagnosis. A greater, clearer-messaged film than "Solitary Man" could have afforded to leave us focused on the fact that it may always be better to act as if we do not have time to spare - though the moral response to that would not be to go overboard, but rather to wise up. But as "Solitary Man" is the film it is, we viewers do need the crumb of satisfaction granted by knowing that he either was - or was not - responding to a health scare that did not even exist. As things work out, we never get to know - which looks perilously much like punishment from the makers for those who have devoted 90 minutes of their lives in the hope of this film ultimately having one really good and clear point to make...

Mircea A Never heard of the movie before watching it on TV (on a Sunday evening). I liked Douglas as a gifted actor ever since The China Syndrome and Fatal Attraction. He's made other gems like Traffic since then, but Solitary Man is a low-key hit worth seeing any other day than Sunday. Of course it helps that the movie is supported by such a big-names as Devito and Sarandon, however Douglas shines on his own here. The film subject must have not been an easy one to develop and sell probably because it speaks to a limited demographic segment. I don't understand why it cost $15 million to produce this, especially since it brought in only $5 million, but don't let that be a measure of anything other than poor marketing perhaps.

bpunsky Reading these reviews, I'd say a lot of people somewhat miss the point of Douglass' character. I just want to offer an alternate perspective and say that I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Ben Kalmen isn't supposed to be liked, first of all. You're not even supposed to pity him, sympathize with him, or empathize with him. Well, maybe empathize a little. You're simply supposed to (at least, in my opinion) see things a little differently and realize how someone who would be completely amoral and blatantly unacceptable from any other point of view can be nothing more, and nothing less, than human if you make an attempt to understand him. Another misconception is that this "mid"life crisis is what brought on his self-destructive behavior. Maybe it was meant to be that way, I don't know, but if you rationalize it, Kalmen was never a good man. His persona almost certainly qualifies for narcissistic personality disorder with a deep histrionic streak, possibly even Machiavellian. He has no compassion for anyone, or even care, really. He uses people to his own ends and reacts poorly to criticism, reacting violently, even, when he can't either pretend it doesn't bother him or cut deeper in retaliation. He's only interested in boosting his own ego. His own daughter and grandson are less important to him than his pride. It would seem their only function to him is as a means to escape boredom. It's clear he never felt different, even before his troubles started, as it's strongly suggested that he was never really a father to his daughter at any point. Put simply, you're not supposed to be able to relate. His character is so deeply and fundamentally flawed to make it that much more shocking to find that he is human, after all. All of his insights are shallow and either a defense mechanism, such as casting everyone as being as self-interested as himself, or apparent, such as that there are "good ones" with whom you shouldn't "f*** up." He even admits to not understanding true friendship, suggesting trust is a completely alien idea to him. The only reason he appeared, at one time, to be relatively normal is because he was getting what he wanted within acceptable boundaries and was a good enough charmer to get away with selfishness. His downward spiral was simply brought on by the realization that he had nothing left to lose, at least, in his mind, so that he gained more by leaving those bounds. Morals were never a concern to him. This is shown most obviously by the fact that he never had a revelation, never changed his ways, and never wanted to. He felt no guilt and no shame for taking what he wanted, when he wanted, with no remorse and no consideration for the feelings of others.

Christian_Dimartino Michael Douglas gives his best performance in nearly ten years as Ben, a disgraced car salesman in the underrated dramedy, Soliatary man. I think Solitary many is up there with the years best movies. Douglas gives his best performance since the indie comedy, Wonder boys ( loved that movie too).Douglas is Ben, a car salesman with an uneven life. His life slowly crumbles after he goes with his girlfriend's(Mary Louise Parker) daughter to Boston. There, they sleep together. From then on is many unfortunate things after another. Slowly ruining his relationship with his daughter ( strongly acted by Jenna Fischer).The acting here is all very well done. Especially from Douglas and Fischer. Douglas plays a likable, but yet unlikable playboy. My interest in this film kept gaining, and gaining, and gaining. I laughed out loud many times in this movie.Overall, I would say that this is one of the years best movies. I feel that this is a very overlooked film. Douglas definitely deserved some recognition for his performance here, and so should Fischer. I think that I would call it one of the years best movies. The film is now out on DVD, and I think you should look for it. See it now. I really liked this film.A-