10. “Solitary Man”

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 14:02:00 +0000

The vast majority of movies stick to the commercial narrative template: a three-act story following a small number of heroes (preferably just one) through a series of events that lead to a potentially life-changing decision. Such a film might demonstrate mastery in every important area -- direction, writing, performance, image, sound, music -- then end up a victim of its own modesty at year's end, largely forgotten by critics and viewers who understandably gravitated toward showier or more innovative films.

"Solitary Man" is that kind of movie. It's being singled out here partly on its merits (which are considerable) and partly because it exemplifies the kind of invisible excellence that ought to be common in commercial cinema but isn't. Written by Brian Koppleman, and directed by Koppleman and David Levien, it's the bittersweet tale of Ben Kalmen, a onetime used car magnate and compulsive womanizer stumbling through the wreckage of his life. Casting Michael Douglas as Ben was arguably the filmmakers' masterstroke; the character invokes every clever, self-centered, hard-living horndog Douglas has ever played in his career.

Michael Douglas: The last great antihero

Fri, 21 May 2010 12:01:00 +0000

"There is nothing noble in failure," says Ben Kalmen, the protagonist of the dark comedy "Solitary Man." And he knows whereof he speaks. Ben is a disgraced former used car dealer and insatiable womanizer who once had all the outward trappings of success (stable marriage, lots of money, a degree of celebrity), and mysteriously and systematically began to destroy all of it. By the time the film's main action begins, he's a magnificent wreck of a man who's slowly learning that the world isn't responsible for his misery – he is.

Happily, Ben's dictum about failure doesn't apply to movies. Failure itself isn't noble or heroic or innately interesting; it's just a human condition like any other. But because mainstream American cinema tends to cower in fear of any behavior it considers unsympathetic and any circumstance it considers unhappy, a film about failure possesses a small degree of nobility right out of the gate. You just don't see that kind of film every day. What such a movie does after that is, of course, up to the filmmakers and the actors. Luckily, "Solitary Man" is funny and absorbing, and it features a lead performance by Michael Douglas that's both hugely entertaining in itself, and fascinating for the way it illuminates the actor's long, colorful career. Ben Kalmen isn't just a worthy addition to Douglas' personal rogues gallery; he seems to contain bits and pieces of all of them.

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10. “Solitary Man”

Michael Douglas: The last great antihero