I came across a review of Solitary Man in Empire magazine after this movie came out on DVD without making much of a splash in the box office. Given both the cast and the directors involved in this project I would have expected this movie to do better, but this in no way takes away from the quality of this picture.
This was written and directed by the creative duo of Brian Koppelman and David Levien, whose previous work included some decent efforts such as poker themed Rounders and Tilt, as well as a turkey in the shape of Ocean’s 13. Had I seen a trailer for this that said “from the creators of Ocean’s 13” I would have had no inclination to get anywhere near this film. Luckily this indie-flavoured effort is pure class.
It’s difficult to talk about the plot of this movie without giving away too much. Michael Douglas managed to play a highly unlikeable guy on paper in a very charismatic way. His character, Ben Kalmen, is a scam artist, lousy father, absent grandfather and an adulterous husband and boyfriend. The way this guy behaves makes you want to hate him, but Douglas manages to somehow make us root for this douchebag anyway. The story follows Ben as he tries desperately to get his life back on track and fight fires along the way.
This is a very slow paced movie, filled with long, lingering shots of Douglas, interesting monologues and not nearly enough screen time for the excellent supporting cast which includes Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito, Jessie Eisenberg and Mary-Louise Parker to name but a few. It’s more of an observation, a narrative of a time in life of a character, with no real story development, more a character study. However Douglas’ screen presence makes it all worthwhile and this is a delightful way to spend 90 minutes.
Rating: 4.5/5
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