Solitary Man
Directed by Brian Koppelman & David Levin
Starring Michael Douglas, Mary-Louise Parker, Susan Sarandon, Jenna Fischer, Danny Devito and Jesse Eisenberg

Directed by Brian Koppleman and David Levin, who wrote Rounders and Ocean’s Thirteen, Solitary Man is a film about a guy who reaches a crossroads in his life and systematically destroys everything around him.

The film opens and we meet Ben (Michael Douglas), a used car dealer that has a knack for chit-chat, at his doctor’s office and we hear what could possibly be bad news as his doctor mentions something about his heart and the sound fades out during the conversation and we cut to 6 years later.  Now we find that Ben’s life has changed dramatically.  He’s divorced, he’s a womanizer, he has an estranged relationship with his daughter, he’s unemployed due to a scandal and some jail time and he has a new attractive girlfriend.

He takes his girlfriend’s daughter, who is entering her first year of college, to his alma matter to meet the dean and hopefully put in a good word for her and this is where he meets a young college geek and takes him under his wing to show him just how easy it is to meet women.  Just when you think that nothing can get worse for Ben, he puts a special touch on the only only good things left in his life and sends them into the toilet.

Why did he leave his wife in the first place?  What caused this scandal to destroy his career?  Why does he push everyone that cares about him away?  We finally understand his reasoning at the end of the movie in what turns out to be an interesting plot development.

There’s something about Michael Douglas as an actor that almost makes me feel that he never actually has to act.  It’s like every character he plays is a part of himself, like all of those things have happened to him and he can draw from it.  He’s pretty natural and he has some awesome one on one scenes with Danny Devito.  Great supporting roles from his ex-wife (Sarandon) and his girlfriend (Parker) and you have a decent ensemble with a sad story that doesn’t take the easy way out.

Some people may find it creepy to see a 60+ year old man messing around with really young women, but I just think it gives me something to look forward to when I’m that old.  – Greg

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