Solitary Man

Plot synopsis:
Ben Kalmen (Michael Douglas) is a successful car salesman who is getting his annual physical. His doctor tells him that his EKG indicates he may have heart problems, and is ordering further tests.Six-and-a-half years later, Ben walks through New York City to meet his daughter Susan and her son at a park, and he cant help but notice an attractive young woman. He chafes at being called Granddad and is quite self-conscious about being older, since he is nearly 60. They go on to meet with his ex-wife for lunch, where again Ben spies another attractive younger woman.Ben goes to visit his wealthy girlfriend Jordan, whom he admits is advantageous to him because her father should be able to help him regain his place within the car dealing community. As we learn, in recent years Ben became involved in serious financial scandals that torpedoed his professional reputation, and he is now trying to use Jordan's influence to secure a property for a new dealership. At the moment, Ben has agreed to take Jordans explicitly 18-year-old daughter Allyson up to Boston to visit the college he attended as a young man. Ben is not only an alumnus, but was once so rich that his donations motivated the school to name the library in his honor, so Jordan assumes he will ensure Allysons admission to the school.On the trip, Ben asks Allyson about her penchant for drinking at a young age, and she counters by pointing out that he cheats on her mother. They agree to not badger each other and to enjoy the weekend on their own terms.Once they arrive on campus, Ben quickly confronts an arrogant student who insults him, resulting in fisticuffs between them. Campus security intervenes, confirming that Allyson is indeed 18, and warning Ben to stay out of trouble, even if he is a notable alumnus. Ben meets Daniel, a student assigned to be his guide, while Allyson goes on a tour with a lacrosse player. Ben goes back to Daniels dorm and makes a quick read of him as a romantic loser. Telling Daniel that he needs to seize his opportunities, Ben proceeds to chat up two girls in the hall and gets himself invited to a party, where he tells Daniel that he too was an awkward, working-class kid in college. He says all that changed when he had a crush on a girl and then found out another guy seduced her before him. After his initial shock, Ben learned from the guy that she enjoyed wholly strenuous coitus, and that gave him the confidence to pursue her so that he was soon enjoying rough sex with her.Ben goes back to his hotel where he sees Allyson at the bar being regaled by the lacrosse player. Ben pulls Allyson aside and tells her she stands to gain little from the sexual transaction that is about to happen. After dumping the player then, Allyson continues talking to Ben about how shes had a lot of sex since she was 14, but none of it has been so great. Ben advises her that she needs to take more control of a guy when she has sex, and show her partner what she wants. Allyson asks Ben how he likes sex with her mother, and he coolly responds that she can at least get him off. Exceedingly soon thereafter, Ben is asking Allyson to show him what she wants as they make love in their hotel room.Ben calls Allyson the next morning from bed. She is already on her way back to New York, but says she had fun with Ben and that everything is copacetic. They both agree to not tell Jordan they had sex.Back in New York, Ben gets the good news that his new dealership will be approved, and he joins Jordan to celebrate, along with Allyson, who has somehow already been accepted to the college. Ben joins the two at Jordans swank apartment, only he is chagrined that Allyson shows little interest in spending any more time with him. Away from Jordans earshot, Allyson thanks Ben for helping her over the Daddy thing and says that she used his advice on the next guy she had sex with, whom she was able to mount with assurance and really enjoy the intercourse. For no apparent reason, then Allyson blurts out to Jordan that they had sex while visiting Boston, and walks away.Ben goes to his daughter to explain his pathetic situation. Susans husband walks in the room, objecting to how Ben has lived his life and had such a negative influence on her. Ben comments to Susan that he tried to shield her from the bad aspects of his past, and then slyly asks her if she can loan him money.After learning that the supposedly secure new dealership has fallen through, Ben meets with his private banker, who informs him that his bank needs to release him as a client, given that they can no longer ignore his corruption and losses. Ben becomes irate, yet manages to bring home a woman he vaguely knows, because she is Susans friend. After their night together, the woman asks Ben about his health, and he tells her he has not been back to a doctor in over six years.As a result of sleeping in with this latest conquest, Ben misses his grandsons birthday party. He thereafter brings a cake to Susans house and plays video games with his grandson, but once again asks her for money, making her indignant. He even goes to visit his ex-wife and asks her for money; while they are amicable and she has become quite successful in real estate, she does not support him. As Ben learns from an associate, he has really managed to turn all his friends into enemies.Ben packs up his nice digs and moves to a humbling apartment, where he is unable to pay the rent for two months. Susan shows up, infuriated with him after learning that he not only slept with her friend but has since been ignoring her. When she asks him to seek professional help for all the trouble hes put himself through, he refuses, and she then refuses to see him again.Ben returns to the college town where he took Allyson, because he still has one friend there, a college buddy named Jimmy who now owns a greasy spoon that is popular with local students. Ben asks Jimmy to give him a job, and he agrees. Ben soon wonders why Jimmy does not chase after the college girls, and the old friend explains that after graduation, the girls are not so attractive anymore. Besides, he has a wife at home with whom he is happy.Allyson happens to come by the diner one day and is suspicious that Ben has followed her. He explains that he is not chasing her but simply trying to get back on his feet. Jordan soon calls Ben and tells him that he must leave town because he is a nuisance to her daughter, and she threatens that her father will do even more damage to him.Daniel invites Ben to a party, where the elder ruminates about his sad situation with Allyson and tries to commiserate about women. Ben later asks Daniels girlfriend what she is getting out of that transaction, and she abruptly shuts him down, recognizing that he is coming on to her, asking if he is not too old for such behavior. She says he is not like Daniel smart, sweet, and funny but Ben counters that in fact he once was, only it did not last.On the way home from the party, the drunk Ben is accosted by a thug who beats him and orders him to leave town the next day, saying that Jordans father sent him. Jimmy tries to console Ben, who bemoans how much he has lost in his life due to his misguided transgressions, and then collapses. Ben wakes up in a hospital with Susan by his side, and apologizes for how he treated her friend. Later, a nurse tries to tell him he has a bad heart, but he insists on leaving against medical advice.Ben stops by Daniels building and they awkwardly acknowledge that Ben was lecherous with his girlfriend. Ben tells Daniel to hold on to her if she is good for him.Ben comes across his ex-wife as he walks back across campus, sitting on the bench where they first met in their youth. She asks about his heart tests, and he confesses that on the day he first had trouble over six years earlier, he immediately went out and cheated on her with some random woman he met. He explains that he had been feeling like such a success in life and business up to that time, doing television ads and touting himself as so honest, and after that first affair, he just kept cheating, on his marriage and his finances, because he did not want to deal with the compromises of facing death. He never expected to grow old, he never wanted to become invisible.With sincere concern, Bens ex-wife tells him she can drive him back to New York City. She walks off to her car, leaving him sitting on the bench. He looks over at her, and just then a college girl walks in front of him in the opposite direction. Ben stands up, looking forward, needing to decide which way to go.

Tags: romantic, storytelling

Review:
His character is true to the Neil Diamond song by the same name, a version of which is sung (badly) over the opening credits.Featuring an all-star ensemble cast, Solitary Man centers on Ben Kalmen (Douglas), a formerly rich, highly-successful "honest" New York car dealer who pulled off a Bernie Madoff-level scam, got caught, prosecuted, and lost all of his money and most of his respect in the ensuing years-long legal battle.
Flash forward to now.Ben is divorced from his wife, Nancy (Susan Sarandon in a luscious cameo); living with a rich younger woman, Jordan (Mary-Louise Parker) and her daughter, Allyson, (the very talented Imogen Poots); trying to get a new car dealership approved by the local city council; and chasing women successfully all over the Boroughs.
He is trying to bury the images with meaningless sex and a carefree, live-for-the-moment attitude that is vaguely reminiscent of his roles in films like Wall Street, A Perfect Murder and Wonder Boys.When Jordan gets ill, she commands Ben to take Allyson to her college interview at Ben's alma mater, where he has been a major donor with his name on the library and everything.
He also gets reacquainted with his college buddy, Jimmy Merino (Danny DeVito with whom Douglas has done countless films and with whom he roomed as a young thespian), an underachieving good guy who never left the college town and who owns a small café near campus.
Nobody can, no matter how many 19-year-olds you talk into your bed."The topic of the mid-life crisis and men losing their identity and sense of self as they get older has been fertile ground for movies in the past, and Solitary Man is another entry into that sub-genre.
Along with Douglas, the movie stars Mary-Louise Parker, Imogen Poots, Danny DeVito, Susan Sarandon, Jesse Eisenberg, and Jenna Fisher.
It seems somewhat like a French or Euro remake in that the story revolves around a man who "flaunts convention" and sleeps with any young woman who pleases him, even though his family (ex-wife, adult offspring) are well aware of his bedroom adventures and taunt him about his behavior.His current girlfriend, who apparently knows something of and tolerates his loose standards, presses him to go with her daughter to a college admission interview over a weekend out of town.
You see, Ben Kalman, the main character, behaves like someone with no moral backbone at all, someone who either knows no limits or is bent on self destruction.Fearing that the audience couldn't figure this thing out for themselves, the movie serves an explanation up complete, as if Ben Kalman, victim of himself, could somehow suddenly understand why he was doing what he was doing and consider the idea of change.
I don't know, which is one reason, although this is a startlingly original movie with good to great acting all around, that I ultimately don't care about it and wish I could forget it.There was one truly wise scene with DeVito discussing why he never chases young women that was almost worth the price of admission.Doug Terry.
Solitary Man tells the story of Ben Kalmen (Michael Douglas in a good performance), a formerly successful car dealer now on a downward spiral.
Now close to 60 years old, Ben seems to be living a sort of late identity crisis, chasing younger women and trying desperately to start a new business while his personal life goes down the drain as quickly as his financial situation.The direction and writing, by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, takes a bittersweet approach to this story, chronicling the events while elegantly letting us decide what we think of Ben. In this respect, I felt they were honest and not manipulative.
Unfortunately, while the themes are strongly driven throughout the film, the story itself looks more like a series of anecdotes, some of which are not stringed in the most elegant way.The whole cast around Douglas (quite an ensemble) is excellent, except Susan Sarandon who is surprisingly bland and not up to her usually high standards.
An Oscar nomination for Douglas may be in the works, but Jenna Fischer who played Ben's daughter, Susan, may get a Best Supporting nod.
Micheal Douglas shines as Ben Kalmen a 60 year old man who's complex as it's clear he's going thru a midlife crisis.The film begins with Ben receiving some bad health news then it flashes ahead six and one half years.
Still you accept the hard ways and see some people don't want to change their ways only you as the viewer root for redemption for complex characters like Ben Kalmen.
We are immediately introduced to Ben Kalmen (Michael Douglas), a disgraced, unemployed, womanizing 60 year-old man who ruled a tri-state network of auto dealerships in the 80s and 90s.
Nor is he willing to grow up, a primary theme of this character study.No sooner do we see him run away from prescribed heart tests, Ben agrees to escort his girlfriend's 18 year-old daughter, Allyson (played by British starlet Imogen Poots), to his ala mater in Massachusetts to grease her application interview and assure her acceptance.
While I agree that the plot required him to go into exile out of New York City, I was a little disappointed to see his ex-wife (Susan Sarandon) disappear for a long stretch in the film, while his daughter (jenna Fischer) gets a boost of screen time in a contrived and somewhat false subplot.
But what could have been a satisfying on-campus subplot seemed to be where the movie ground to a halt, and ended up being as awkward and aloof as Eisenberg's character.After some thought, I think I know why this film didn't work for me.
It's hard to imagine these names as supporting cast members but Douglas is joined by Mary Louise Parker, Danny Devito, Jesse Eisenberg, Susan Sarandon, and Jenna Fischer.
And Douglas, once beloved for his rich, lecherous lizards in Fatal Attraction, Wall Street and Basic Instinct, takes a role that wants us to believe every hot 18-year-old still wants to hit that leathery ass.In Solitary Man, Douglas plays Ben Kalmen, a once powerful-New York City car salesman who has lost his business, his wife (Susan Sarandon in a throwaway role) and his money after taking part in a scam.
Then something really shitty happens.Despite a supporting cast that includes Sarandon, "The Office's" Jenna Fischer, Jesse Eisenberg (putting the final nail in the coffin of virginal loser typecasting) and Danny DeVito, Solitary Man is Michael Douglas' show.
Admittedly, Douglas does have a commanding presence and it is good to see him back, but as his character becomes less and less likable, Solitary Man goes off the rails.And it's not that films about curmudgeons or unlikable protagonists are a bad thing.
You don't even see how he manages to convince 30 year olds to have sex with him, you just see them in his bed, the script being (too) focused solely on his internal struggle.Bottom line: I think no person under 30 could really enjoy this film, even if it is a good movie.
The film features an impressive supporting cast including Jesse Eisenberg, Danny DeVito, Mary-Louise Parker, Susan Sarandon and 'THE OFFICE's Jenna Fischer.
Solitary Man tells the story of Ben Kalmen (Michael Douglas), a car magnate who has to watch his personal and professional life hit the skids because of his business and romantic indiscretion.
Imogen Poots and Jenna Fischer were great and then there's Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito, Mary-Louise Parker and Jesse Eisenberg who all had smaller roles but made the best out of it.
Unfortunately, I think that, by my point of view, that is all this movie says.Besides of Douglas' performance, I also liked the works from Jenna Fischer in a surprisingly dramatic role; from the great Mary-Louise Parker, who makes practically a cameo as the main character's new "love"; from Imogen Potts as a cynical and intelligent student; from Jesse Eisenberg as a shy young man; from Susan Sarandon as the main character's ex-wife; and specially from Danny DeVito as a main character's friend.
Solitary Man (2009) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Michael Douglas gives the performance of his career as Ben Kalmen, a highly successful car salesman who throws it all away trying to be decades younger.
Roger Ebert's review of this film points out the biggest truth and that's the fact that Douglas has played a lot of great villains in his life and done a wonderful job with them.
Solitary Man The reason older men gravitate towards younger women is because, unlike older women, they cannot tell the difference between 8-carat and 24-carat.And while the smarmy dingo in this drama isn't buying precious gems for his Lolitas, he is sleeping with them.When his doctor tells him that he doesn't have long to live, Ben (Michael Douglas) begins philandering.Divorced from his wife (Susan Sarandon), he shacks up with Jordan (Mary Louise Parker).
But when that fails, he returns to his old college, in search of his youth.A lamentable account of a midlife Lothario learning life lessons too late, Solitary Man features a poignant plot and a first-rate performance from Douglas.Nevertheless, older men do fulfill the needs of younger women, i.e. paternal love and the desire to change diapers.
In reality, I think he's just an aging Casanova, way in over his head after years of skating on success.Douglas plays this guy, Ben Kalmen, a man who has his name on top of a library at a university up in Boston as he donated all that money, like a man who knows everything and nothing at the same time.
(In the style of Johnny Cash's hit song "Solitary Man") This movie was fine til the time that it ended holding it, loving it Then Michael came along, acted strong, that's what I thought Susan too, and Jenna too I know that I will, and know I can find it, This film will stay right behind me I am such a fan Solitary Man, Solitary Man (end of song) OK, enough!
I salute the acting ensemble of "Solitary Man", all of them solid; but the one that had the upper hand was no doubt Douglas' Oscar-worthy grand performance as Ben Kalmen.
I liked everything about Solitary Man except the main point of the story, to wit, men are bad and women are good.
With the considerable build-up for the long-awaited sequel to the mega hit potboiler Wall Street that starred Michael Douglas, fans of the original film, understandably so, flocked to theaters for Wall Street 2,15 years later.But while a large majority of the movie-going public's attention was diverted to the powerful role that garnered him critical praise, and was touted as his return—Douglas' other film; the Indie drama Solitary Man, quietly previewed with less fanfare of course than you'd expect for a hugely anticipated follow-up.Therefore, technically, Douglas' comeback is that of an aging, formerly successful automobile magnate, who at the prospect of possibly facing a serious health condition proceeds to systematically destroy his marriage and professional reputation as his life goes into free fall.In choosing to deal with this probability by not dealing with it at all, subsequently causes Douglas' character to spiral out-of-control into a self-imposed mid-life crisis, where the story picks up.
Sort of like watching a train wreck in slow motion.The hypothesis isn't focused so much on Douglas' fear of mortality or even having lost his lucrative livelihood, as it is on his visible tendency towards attracting younger women—even in the presence of his daughter and ex-wife (played by Susan Sarandon, who coincidentally is also in Wall Street 2).Yet again, due to his unapologetic attitude for his actions and lack of display of any real desire to redeem himself for the damage he's done to his family and his career, you can't help feeling justified in not investing emotionally in him..
Ben Kalman (Michael Douglas) is the person of interest in this story, a man who six years prior to the opening of the film is informed of his mortality, and in the last six years this car dealer has gone form disposing of his honest reputation to the point of participating in scams, being arrested, bedding every 19 year old girl he can, losing his money, divorcing his wife (Susan Sarandon), losing the respect of his daughter (Jenny Fischer) whose husband requests she not see her father nor expose their son to him, cheating on his girlfriend with important family ties (Mary Louise Parker) by inappropriate activity with her daughter (Imogen Poots), and being refused financing despite his friend (Ben Schenkman) attempts on his behalf.
He finally ends up on the campus where he met his wife, meets a shy student (Jesse Eisenberg) and in attempting to give him lessons about how to attract women unveils an even more ugly aspect of his position, and finally meets up with his only friend from college days - the local pub man (Danny DeVito) who may never have reached the heights of Ben but has remained an honest and caring friend.
This Hollywood movie might have worked better as a rough-hewn indie picture with more particularized locations and more unexpected faces, but it has two big things to recommend it: the writing, and a wonderful performance by Michael Douglas as the titular loner, a fallen used car magnate, a seducer of young women and a man near sixty who's run out of options.
This is the writing and Douglas's performance working together to create a man who is reprehensible in interesting and perhaps universal ways.Ben Kalmen is a wise guy who needs to learn a lesson.
Solitary Man (2009)Michael Douglas is a wonder in this film.
But Michael Douglas plays a big time car salesman here, not himself, and he's already an aging loser by the time the movie begins, convicted of felonies, estranged with most of his family and previous life.
SOLITARY MAN (2010) ***1/ 2 Michael Douglas, Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito, Mary-Louise Parker, Jenna Fischer, Imogen Poots, Jesse Eisenberg, Richard Schiff, Olivia Thirlby, Jake Richard Sicilliano, David Constabile, Ben Shenkman, Anastasia Griffith.
In "Solitary Man," we see Ben be a jerk in just about every conceivable way, preying on girls 40 years younger than him, giving impressionable college guys lousy advice about women, neglecting his grandson, telling his daughter graphic stories of his sexual exploits and having cozy chats with his ex-wife (Susan Sarandon), who seems grudgingly tolerant of him and his bad-boy nature.
This gets one of my votes for under appreciated and hidden movies of the year Michael Douglas is a car dealer who's life explodes and who tries to put it back together again, only he keeps screwing it up.Wow Wow and Wow.Its not the BEST film of the year but it has some of the best performances and is utterly compelling.
With a cast including Michael Douglas, Susan Sarandon, Jesse Eisenberg and Danny DeVito, one wonders why a film such as 'Solitary Man' fails to hit the mark.
Unlike Michael Douglas' iconic, charming rogue 'Gordon Gekko', whose 'Greed is good' philosophy is the underpinning of the insightful and entertaining 1987 film 'Wall Street', what we're supposed to get from the 'Solitary Man' is that 'greed is bad'.
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.
The movie begins "six and a half years earlier" and we see Michael Douglas as Ben Kalmen having a routine physical with his regular doctor.
The doctor says something about his EKG concerns him, and sets him up for follow-up tests to find out if there really is an issue.Up to that point Ben is a successful New York businessman, an "honest" car dealer, and a good family man with a long time marriage and 30-something married daughter and grandson.
Jenna Fischer is his married daughter, Susan Porter.This is an interesting character study of a man who changes his behavior after he thinks his heart is about to give out, as if he has nothing to live for so why worry about any consequences of any of his actions?
Now in A Solitary Man he plays Ben Kelman, car magnate and philanderer, who has hit life low due to illegal business activity and indiscreet romances with women just too young even for his 60 years.Ben is involved in both business and personal matters that show him still arrogant and willful: his current love, Jordan (Mary Louise Parker), has him take her daughter, Allyson (Imogen Poots) to college orientation, only to have him seduce the child.
As Ben ages, his dirty dealings exact more punishment.Ben remains solitary through most of the film, despicable except to his good friend, Jimmy (Danny DeVito), and maybe his ex-wife Nancy (Susan Sarandon).
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.
Michael Douglas gives his best performance in nearly ten years as Ben, a disgraced car salesman in the underrated dramedy, Soliatary man.
The film moves through several situations in Ben's current life where he acts on his unregulated impulses and looses what little he had left.Solitary man was uncomfortable to watch at times, most notably when Ben, at 60 years of age, seduces young women by playing on their vulnerabilities.