Solitary Man [Blu-ray] [2009] [US Import]

The film follows Michael Douglas as he comes to grips, or doesn't, with his age and the fact that his personal life as passed him by. The movie begins with Douglas receiving the news that he needs some test performed on his heart because his doctor has some concerns. Time then flashes forward six years, where Douglas is now divorced with a daughter in her early 30s (played expertly by Jenna Fischer), a grandson who is five, and a girlfriend (Mary Louise Parker) who he is using for her father's power. Hints are dropped that Douglas was involved in some sort of scam that caused him to lose his extremely profitable business and threw him into a scandal that destroyed his reputation. The rising action begins when Douglas must escort his girlfriend's daughter to his alma mater for the weekend. While in Boston, Douglas makes a terrible decision that threatens to unravel whatever life he has left.

Though this film received little attention, I thought that it was absolutely excellent and worth an Oscar nomination (being that they're handing them out willy nilly now). Susan Saradon plays Douglas' ex and does so expertly with just the perfect amount of anger, pity, and old love. Douglas plays the philandering 60+ year old who still thinks he's 20 perfectly. The end of the movie leaves people guessing, but can also be used as a conversation starter and had me thinking about the film long after I left the theater.

"Solitary Man," stars Michael Douglas, who plays Ben Kalman, a middle-aged man whose annual physical triggers a self-centered need to recreate his youth. He throws off all responsibilities in his life. He was a very successful luxury car dealer, happily married and set for life. The doctor's recommendation to have more tests on his heart shocks him visibly with fear of dying. He does not want to know more or take tests to find out what the diagnosis is.

Over the next six-and-a-half years, Ben transforms into an unappealing pathetic soul as one by one friends and family cut him off. He continues begging people for money and jobs, plus finds time to get into complicated sexual situations with a friend of his daughter as well as the daughter of the woman he is currently dating. His career in a mess and he is a loser with every woman he meets. He cannot find pleasure in positive things, and in the end he is alone, a "Solitary Man."

Somehow Douglas makes this unappealing character real, and the movie is a fascinating drama-comedy.

No one does loathsome charm like Michael Douglas! In a career filled with oily characters, Ben Kalmen is easily one of the more reprehensible creations that Douglas has fleshed out. Seemingly without one redemptive character trait, "Solitary Man" doesn't shy away from the ugliness, desperation, and fear that fuel Kalmen's self destructive bent. And as much as you may despise the man, Douglas manages to convey enough humanity and humor to keep you hoping for more. It's an intricately balanced role and Douglas deftly handles its challenges. If you're not with Douglas for good and bad, than you will likely find "Solitary Man" quite unpleasant. Douglas had me, however, and backed by a solid and wildly appealing supporting cast--"Solitary Man" became an amusingly direct look at a man dealing with his own mortality.

With a brief introduction, we meet Douglas as a successful man facing a possible health crisis. Fast forward six years. Douglas is now broke, unemployed and practically unemployable due to a scandal, divorced, and carrying on with a woman for her business connections. He's an aging lothario who seems to be actively working to estrange himself from his family and his closest friends. The thought of not living life on his own terms has caused him to systematically deconstruct everything that was once successful and lovable about his old persona. Douglas is fearless as I mentioned above and his trysts with younger, and some patently inappropriate, women range from comical to quite unsettling. Douglas ultimately does have to start addressing his shortcomings, but is it too little and too late?

While Douglas may be difficult to like--he is certainly surrounded by a plethora of people who still care. The film shines in its supporting cast. I'd single out Jenna Fischer (TV's "The Office") as Douglas's daughter who in many ways is the heart of this piece and Jesse Eisenberg as a youth idolizing Douglas who is the hope of the film. Both are terrific--perhaps Fischer's best work to date. Mary-Louise Parker, Danny Devito and Susan Sarandon also lend solid support. Ultimately, "Solitary Man" may be too slight for some viewers--there are no big declarations and/or revelations. As a character study, it is a fascinating look at a flawed individual making bad choices in order to feel relevant and alive. To see this cast at work, that's all I needed! Not for everyone--but those that like "Solitary Man" will like it a lot. KGHarris 9/10.