Christian_Dimartino Michael Douglas gives his best performance in nearly ten years as Ben, a disgraced car salesman in the underrated dramedy, Soliatary man. I think Solitary many is up there with the years best movies. Douglas gives his best performance since the indie comedy, Wonder boys ( loved that movie too).Douglas is Ben, a car salesman with an uneven life. His life slowly crumbles after he goes with his girlfriend's(Mary Louise Parker) daughter to Boston. There, they sleep together. From then on is many unfortunate things after another. Slowly ruining his relationship with his daughter ( strongly acted by Jenna Fischer).The acting here is all very well done. Especially from Douglas and Fischer. Douglas plays a likable, but yet unlikable playboy. My interest in this film kept gaining, and gaining, and gaining. I laughed out loud many times in this movie.Overall, I would say that this is one of the years best movies. I feel that this is a very overlooked film. Douglas definitely deserved some recognition for his performance here, and so should Fischer. I think that I would call it one of the years best movies. The film is now out on DVD, and I think you should look for it. See it now. I really liked this film.A-

callanvass (Credit IMDb) Ben Kalman is aging: he has heart problems, his marriage is over, he's lost a fortune after being caught cutting corners in his East Coast car business, and he's sleeping with as many women as possible - the younger the better. He's chosen his current girlfriend, Jordan, because her father can help him get a new auto dealership; she's asked him to escort her daughter, Allyson, 18, on a visit to a Boston college campus. He behaves badly, and there are consequences to his love life, his finances, and his relationship with his daughter and grandson. Is there anywhere he can turn?Solitary Man is a very good movie on its own, but due to Michael's incredible, Oscar worthy performance, that makes it just a bit better then the movie. Solitary Man has a great story, and some very good central characters surrounding it as the center pieces. From the very beginning, we see Douglas will take any chance to make money for himself, even if it means missing his Grandson's birthday party, or even asking his daughter for a loan. He cares about one person and one person only, himself. That doesn't really change much, throughout the duration of the movie, but he learns an important lesson near the end. Life is precious. Career revival? Maybe not, but it's certainly one of Douglas's finest showcases of acting.Performances. Michael Douglas gives a defining performance. He is Oscar worthy, or at least close to it. Despite his selfish nature, he remains a likable person, with an uncanny sense of charisma. I even felt for him some times, and that takes charisma. He's still got it. Susan Sarandon doesn't have that big a part, but she looks great, and her speech near the end are extremely moving. Danny DeVito is solid with what he had to do. Jesse Eisenberg has a small role, he did well. I enjoyed his scenes with Douglas.Bottom line. It's a very good movie, but Douglas clearly makes it. Without his heart and determination, I doubt it would have been as good as it was. That being said, I loved it, and hope you will too. Highly recommended.8/10

tinseltine When discussing tried and true actors with great likability, most would include Michael Douglas. I first fell in love with him back in the 80's as Jack T. Colton, Kathleen Turner's romance book hero come to life in Romancing the Stone. Unfortunately, not even Michael Douglas' charm and charisma will have you rooting for him in Solitary Man. Ben Kalmen (Douglas) is an immature, self-destructive, lech. He's supposed to be lovably irrepressible and sagaciously fighting back from professional disgrace. But mostly, you just feel like tuning out and leaving him to his own devices.Do you want Kalmen to have it all together? No. What good would that be in a character study type film. I feel the problem comes in the execution of revealing who this character was, in relation to who he's become. We don't get that until the very last scene and that's just too late. The other difficulty – it's too dialog heavy, not in a clever, fast paced Nancy Meyer's film way, this is more ex-positional, soliloquy.

ortonius This is a horrible movie based on a premise that challenges every other movie in it's incredulity. An old man played by Michael Douglas used to be an international star as the world's largest car dealer. However, he chose to steal money from the company and as a result served time in prison (no specifics are given but it must have been very little) and now wants to open a new dealership. He sabotages his own plan by seducing his current girlfriend's daughter (18). Give me a break! Douglas looks every year of his age and certainly older than the movie's 60. Every woman in the movie is mesmerized by him including his mother (Susan Sarandon in a bit part). It's certainly laughable imagining the quarts of Viagra this guy would need to keep up, if indeed that would help. Also, he's had a grave heart condition for 6 years but it's not any worse and he chugs along from bed to bed with no problems.? It's time for Douglas (assuming he beats cancer) to start playing legitimate grandpas. This movie is not worth seeing.