Solitary Man

Directors: Brian Koppelman, David Levien
Writer: Brian Koppelman
Starring: Michael Douglas
Release Date: July 2, 2010
Length: 2 hours

60 year old, promiscuous car dealer, Ben Kalmen (Michael Douglas) lives an easygoing, comfortable life in New York City with a different woman every night. He is constantly unfaithful to his 20 years younger girlfriend, Jordan Karsch (Mary Louise Parker) who he is only really going out with because of her father who is a big name in the car dealing business. When Jordan asks him to accompany her 18-year-old daughter, Allyson (Imogen Poots) to her college interview at the same college he went to, he agrees reluctantly knowing neither he nor Allyson wants him to be there. After seeing the campus and meeting locals, Ben and Allyson have a few drinks and end up sleeping with each other. Let’s not forget the 42-year age difference. When they arrive back in New York, although Ben and Allyson had an agreement they wouldn’t say anything, Allyson tells her mother about what happened out of frustration with her. Using her Dad’s power in the car dealing business, Jordan makes sure Ben has no job and never will again in that area of business. This causes Ben to reevaluate his life, realizing what an inconsiderate father he is to his daughter, Susan  (Jenna Fischer), what a terrible boyfriend he was to Jordan and what a bad guy he is in general. Despite Michael Douglas always playing himself, he is always extraordinary to watch on film. His presence has always captured the camera and he continuously intrigues the audience. Solitary Man had a good enough story to be a great film on it’s own, but it would have never been nearly as amazing as it was without Douglas. Moving on from Douglas, literally everyone else in the cast was incredible as well. Newcomer Imogen Poots was captivating as Allyson, not to mention beautiful as well. It certainly helped that her and Douglas shared a strong chemistry as creepy as that may sound. Jenna Fischer from The Office gave a wonderful dramatic performance as Ben’s daughter, which is something we are not used to from her. She has always made me laugh in The Office, but I hope she pursues more dramatic roles because she is clearly strong in that genre as well. As for the rest of the cast, Mary Louise Parker was hilarious and it was nice to see Susan Sarandon and Danny DeVito again. What was so nice about Solitary Man was the realism of his life. The audience never felt the need to sympathize for him because he was the main character, but at the same time, we didn’t hate him for being a pervert or a jerk. It was just understanding this character that made this film so easy and nice to watch. Although it probably won’t be in theatres for long, make sure to see Solitary Man.