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...

You might get through Life pretty much Unscathed if You Indulge in One of the Seven Deadly Sins (Lust), but Two (Greed), probably Unsurmountable. Such is the Case with Michael Douglas in this Character Study about a Very Successful Businessman in the Winter of Discontent.He is on His way Down and Out, but the Silky Charm is still there and a Complete Embrace of Self Confidence. In the Film, He never "looks" like He is Suffering much. However, His Life is in total Freefall.It is a One-Note Movie but its Resonance is Profound and the Cast of Aging Stars and some Quality Newcomers aid a rather Thin Script and Story. It is a Quality Film, with Professionalism and a certain Wit without Cynicism. It is not Layered and is right there on Screen for the Viewer to take in and it is a Smooth Operation to say the Least.The Movie Glides along its way Effortlessly and is Charm with a bit of Bite. In Fact, it is so good You may want more of it. But that is not to be. Its like the best cut of Steak possible, but only Served in 4 ounce Proportions. The enjoyment of this will depend on the amount of Self-Reflection You engage, and will undoubtedly appeal to an Older Audience and the Movie and its Cautionary Tale will most probably be Overlooked by those who would benefit the Most. Those Folks, especially Men, who are still Young Enough.

Michael Douglas stars in this dialogue-driven comedy drama about an ethically challenged New York businessman who finds his life falling apart due to a series of career missteps and personal foul-ups in this movie entitled,Solitary Man. Susan Sarandon, Jenna Fischer, Jesse Eisenberg, Mary-Louise Parker and Danny DeVito co-star to play key supporting roles.David Levien and Brian Koppelman direct the film.Once upon a time, Ben Kalmen had everything a man could possibly want such as a high-paying job, a beautiful wife, and a spacious Manhattan apartment.But now all of that is a distant memory. The former owner of a successful auto dealership, Ben has recently lost everything thanks to his own inability to resist his impulses. But the resilient Ben isn't the type of guy to stay down for the count, and lately things are starting to look up for him again. Despite being divorced from his former college sweetheart Nancy, Ben still manages to see his daughter, Susan,and his grandson on a regular basis, and his new girlfriend, Jordan, may have just the connections needed to help the floundering businessman get his career back on track. When Ben takes Jordan's college-bound daughter, Allyson, on a tour of a prospective school, however, his steely new resolve is put to the ultimate test.Michael Douglas has spent the second half of his career perfecting playing charming, morally flawed rakes in movies such as Fatal Attraction, Wall Street and Wonder Boys. So his performance in Solitary Man as a morally flawed rake who is somehow ingratiating, if not exactly charming is a subtle but real revelation of his acting skills. He obviously delivers in this movie that is built around a singularly unpleasant main character that needs a flawless central performance to succeed.This is what makes it a fascinating character study despite of have other elements that are flawed and mediocre particularly the screenplay.

When discussing tried and true actors with great likability, most would include Michael Douglas. I first fell in love with him back in the 80's as Jack T. Colton, Kathleen Turner's romance book hero come to life in Romancing the Stone. Unfortunately, not even Michael Douglas' charm and charisma will have you rooting for him in Solitary Man. Ben Kalmen (Douglas) is an immature, self-destructive, lech. He's supposed to be lovably irrepressible and sagaciously fighting back from professional disgrace. But mostly, you just feel like tuning out and leaving him to his own devices.Do you want Kalmen to have it all together? No. What good would that be in a character study type film. I feel the problem comes in the execution of revealing who this character was, in relation to who he's become. We don't get that until the very last scene and that's just too late. The other difficulty – it's too dialog heavy, not in a clever, fast paced Nancy Meyer's film way, this is more ex-positional, soliloquy.