Review of Solitary Man (2009) by Jeffrey T — 30 Apr 2011

Michael Douglas received critical acclaim (and, to some, an Oscar snub) for his role as the self-destructive skirt-chaser Ben Kalmen. Once a successful car dealer, Kalmen loses everything due to his questionable morals, including his dealership, his wife, and as his indiscretions continue, he is on the verge of losing absolutely everything....yet still is never sure when it all stops being worth it.

Yes, I will admit that Douglas' performance is strong, and yes, I got the fact that the film was trying to ask "when is enough enough" without actually trying to answer it, but I still found "Solitary Man" nothing more than ok. Even with such a strong supporting cast as Mary-Louise Parker, Jenna Fischer, Jesse Eisenberg, Ben Shenkman and Susan Sarandon, all in very secondary roles, the film chugs along at a pseudo-slow pace, never really grasping the viewer and sucking them into Douglas' downward spiral.

Thus leaving a merely midly entertaining film. At best.