Solitary Man

Solitary Man

It is so nice to see a wonderful film in the summer season. Most of the excellent films wait for distribution until the International Film Festival.

I have not been a fan of Michael Douglas. He is so perfect for this role as if the part was written for him.

Ben Kalmen (Douglas) is a pathetic character. He has known better days as a successful car dealer in New York. He had money. He had contributed to a library at his former university. He had it all but made some bad mistakes and lost it all.

When we first meet him he is living with a very wealthy attractive socialite. She asks him to take her daughter to his former university to meet the dean and find her way around the university. Kalmen makes bad decisions. He seduces the daughter.

You know he is wrong and making foolish choices. At the same time there is something charming about him and I kept hoping he would pull himself out of his downward slide.

I wasn’t too happy with him when I saw his relationship with his daughter and grandson. It was obvious he loved his grandson and probably his daughter as well. He kept making bad decisions and disappointing his family.

There were moments of promises when you are led to believe that he will get a new dealership and start climbing back up that ladder of success. Everything seems to keep falling apart and he really is left with nothing. Even his health begins to catch up with him.

A small but interesting part is played by Douglas’s real friend Danny De Vito. He plays the part of a diner owner who had been a friend at university. He is one of the few friends to help Ben. Danny De Vito always adds a bit of levity to a film.

I loved this film. The one distracting and unbelievable part is Ben’s relationship with a young geeky student. Ben gives him advice and becomes a mentor. They even go to university parties together. I wanted to laugh out loud and say, “Give me a break.” It was a detraction and distraction from the rest of the film.

Ben Kalmen is quite a character study and that is reason enough to see the film. I found it interesting to follow the self destruction of this character. He had a Peter Pan style of life and in this case it worked against him.

Susan Sarandon has a small role as his ex wife. I found it surprising to see how empathetic she was to him because you know that he had disappointed her in the past in so many ways.

It was long overdo to see a good film in the summer.