SOLITARY MAN

Solitary Man is like a better-acted, better-scripted Wall Street sequel, with an equally smarmy, unsympathetic Michael Douglas... which is part of the problem.

I sometimes have a tough time investing any emotional energy into characters I don't like. No, let me take that back... everyone loves a good villain, say a Hannibal Lecter or a Scarlett O'Hara. I'll even go out on a limb and add Gordon "Greed is good" Gekko from the original Wall Street. Good bad guys, even if they often don't have redeeming qualities, at least have charisma. That was part of my problem with Michael Douglas' Solitary Man Ben Kalmen. He comes across as a sort of Gordon Gekko Lite. He's too weaselly and spineless to be truly despicable. He's an oily character that you'd prefer to just cut out of your life - and this is what most of his friends and acquaintances end up doing.

Ben was once an uber-successful regional car salesman. He was rich enough to donate enough sums of money to his alma mater to get buildings named after him. He wheeled and dealed with big money. Most importantly, he had respect. But then a visit to the doctor's office gave him some bad news... you know, the kind of huge potential-death-toll health announcement that some may prefer to ignore completely? That is what Ben does. He doesn't go back for a follow-up appointment. He instead chooses to live for the moment, making a bunch of really bad selfish choices.

Cue a few years into the future. Ben's longtime wife (Susan Sarandon, earthy and forgiving, but putting up with no bullshit) has left him because he was screwing around with any female that walks and talks. His daughter (Jenna Fischer), the most tolerant person in his life, is on her last nerve because he is such a flake when it comes to spending time with his grandson (of course the kid adores him). And he is having a hell of a time getting a loan to open a new business, because he ruined his own good name with a bunch of really bad business decisions.

Solitary Man follows Ben when he has hit rock bottom. In his old college town he encounters a swirl of characters, like his old buddy (Danny DeVito) who humbly takes prides in his small-town cafe, and a college kid (Jesse Eisenberg) who idolizes Ben as a mentor, and his girlfriend's daughter (Imogen Poots) who one-ups Ben at his own game. Basically Ben is a completely selfish, immature individual, and his actions finally... finally catche up to him.

The thing is, I didn't like Ben enough to want to follow him his journey. Solitary Man is full of fine actors (not a weak one in the ensemble) and is well-written. But Ben is such an immature weasel that I just wanted to slap him. Heck, I know enough people like that in real life, that I don't particularly want to spend movie-time with the same sort of pathetic bunch. When a man-child movie is about a man-child in his 60s, it simply ends up being even more depressing than the usual mid-life crisis story.

BLU-RAY EXTRAS

Extras include a making-of featurette with interviews of the main actors and crew, an audio commentary featuring directors Brian Koppelman and David Levien, plus actor Douglas McGrath (who has such a small role as the dean, he seems an odd choice for commentary... but I guess if Michael Douglas and Susan Sarandon don't show up...).

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