A Solitary Man (2009)

We enjoyed this story of a vain, selfish womanizer who doesn't deserve the loyalty of his family (and one friend). The role was written for Michael Douglas, and it shows. Douglas' Ben has seen some hard times, but never seems to learn from his mistakes (ah, vanity). The scene in the preview, where Ben asks his daughter and grandson not to call him Dad or Grandpa so that he'll appear younger when he tries to pick up girls, really happened. Writer/co-director Brian Koppelman overheard someone say that line and it was the inspiration for his story. He was so taken by it that he finished the script alone, instead of with his usual collaborator David Levien (that's not a typo) on Rounders (1998), Runaway Jury (2003), Oceans Thirteen (2007), and others. They did, however, share directing duties.

Two people, one in print and one in person, said they disliked Ben so much they didn't have a good time. Jack and I don't agree with that; we don't have to like or feel a character is sympathetic for us to deem it a good movie. What a great cast, too. Joining Douglas (Oscar for Wall Street (1987), some of my other faves are Wonder Boys (2000), Basic Instinct (1992), Fatal Attraction (1987), Traffic (2000), and don't forget Falling Down (1993), where he played a scary stalker traveling the greater Los Angeles metro area) are Susan Sarandon (I wrote about her in The Lovely Bones) as Ben's ex-wife Nancy; Jenna Fisher (best known for The Office, she did some good comedy work in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007) and Blades of Glory the same year) as their patient daughter Pam; the oh-so-talented Mary-Louise Parker (I could watch her in anything, but I particularly liked Grand Canyon (1991), Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), Sugartime (1995) in which she played Phyllis McGuire of the McGuire sisters, The Five Senses (1999), and, of course Weeds) as Ben's mistress Jordan; Imogen Poots (actually British, she is completely convincing as a Yank, she was in 28 Weeks Later (2007) and Me and Orson Welles) as Jordan's daughter Allyson; Jesse Eisenberg (I wrote about him in Adventureland and Zombieland) as college student Daniel; Olivia Thirlby (Juno (2007), Snow Angels (2007), The Wackness) uncredited in a third act role; and Danny DeVito (some of my quirky favorites: Get Shorty (1995), Drowning Mona (2000), Death to Smoochy (2002), The Oh in Ohio (2006)) as Ben's only friend. The screen chemistry between Douglas and DeVito is evident, whether or not you know that they were once roommates, Douglas produced One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), in which DeVito had a part, and they acted together in Romancing the Stone (1984), War of the Roses (1989), and more. I had a "who's that?" moment when Ben is talking to a girl who frequents the diner, the one he says eats like a lumberjack. The actress is Gillian Jacobs, who plays Britta on the TV show Community; she was also in The Book of Daniel, which was on NBC as well, before it was, regrettably, canceled.

Every time I think about this movie, I'm humming the song, written by Neil Diamond, released in 1966, and covered by Johnny Cash for his American III: Solitary Man album in 2000. The locations in Manhattan and the ones that are supposed to be Boston (Fordham University in the Bronx for the campus and City Island Diner, NY, for the diner) are quite nice.

This has an 82% rating on rottentomatoes and is well worth seeing (don't get it mixed up with A Serious Man or A Single Man, all good, all different). Afterwards, download the press kit from this link and read more about it.