Review of Solitary Man (2009) by Clayton W — 16 Jun 2010

I went to a free screening of Solitary Man last night, and as these things always go, there was someone asking our opinions as we left the theater. A group of older people in front of me summed it up nicely: "We didn't like the subject matter, but it was a great movie." Solitary Man centers on a sleazeball acting sleazeballishly, so it isn't the most enjoyable film to watch, but its fantastic cast makes it worth seeing.

The film hinges entirely on Michael Douglas. He's rarely offscreen, which in this case is a very good thing. Douglas owns the role, allowing brief but refreshing glimmers of actual character under the disgusting I-want-to-be-young-again surface. Not that he doesn't have a great cast supporting him - there are great turns from Danny DeVito, Jenna Fischer, and the perfectly-cast Susan Sarandon.

The story is very familiar; a man has everything, then loses everything. There's not much more to it than that. The final scene builds to an obvious, "ambiguous" ending, which is disappointing. After spending the whole film watching Douglas's character fail to commit to anything, it would've been nice if the filmmakers would've made a commitment to something in the final frames. But it's still fitting, if disappointing, and it doesn't affect the film's overall quality in any meaningful way.