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The first act of SOLITARY MAN is brilliant, expertly written and thoroughly unconventional. Instead of continuing down that path once the first act is over, the movie decides to move towards more familiar territory. My disappointment isn't too extreme because the film doesn't stop being dramatically effective and Michael Douglas perfectly dominates the screen, but I have to point out that if SOLITARY MAN had continued the approach it took during its first half hour, it could've easily been great.
Ben (Michael Douglas) used to be an extremely successful used car salesman... until he did something illegal. We eventually find out that the case against him was settled, so Ben didn't serve any jail time; unfortunately, that hasn't stopped his life from taking a tumble towards the worst. He's now heavily distrusted by most people, which is why he starts dating Jordan (Mary-Louise Parker), a well-connected socialite whose daughter Susan (Jenna Fischer) is a senior in high school who is getting ready to go to college in the fall. Through Jordan's connections, Ben is able to at least continue getting by despite the bad reputation he's acquired. After a few easy-to-swallow contrivances, Jordan asks Ben to accompany Susan to one of the colleges that she applied to, seeing as Ben is friends with the dean there.
The events that take place during Ben and Susan's university visit are absolutely brilliant. The conversations they have are a delight to listen to, from their awkwardness at the airport when Susan initially wants Ben to let her go by herself, to a surprising encounter they have at a bar where Susan was being seduced by a college boy. The other great aspect of this first act comes from Ben's interactions with Daniel (Jesse Eisenberg), a quintessential college dork who gets to hear "lessons" from Ben on how to go about getting girls. The way in which Daniel is successful at getting a girl is far from what you'd normally expect from the scenario of "older, experienced guy helps kid get laid." But the best part of this wonderfully unconventional "college visit" is where it ultimately goes in terms of what Ben and Susan end up, um, doing with each other. I didn't expect it, and what I appreciated even more is that it's handled with a nice bit of class. The question "What are YOU gonna get out of the transaction?" has never been posed in a more amusing way on film.
The problem with SOLITARY MAN comes when the filmmakers decide that what Ben and Susan did should be revealed to other people. As soon as this happens, the movie doesn't become bad per se, but it becomes less interesting. Jordan and Susan hardly show up on-screen anymore, and the film becomes more about how now that Ben no longer has Jordan's connections, EVERYTHING starts going wrong for him. It's still entertaining to watch and Douglas deserves accolades for his performance, but it's not as amazing as what we could've gotten if the film had taken the route it seemed like it would take at first. As you'll expect, the chain of events eventually leads Ben back to the campus area. During the final scenes, the script does have a moment of brilliance in what it has to say about people who are "sweet, smart and funny" when they're young. That line is reminiscent of the same type of wisdom we witnessed during the first half hour. I liked SOLITARY MAN, and I know that it's useless to say "Well, they should've done this instead of that," because it's important to respect the storyline that the script eventually decided to go for, but it's also easy to be frustrated about how great a film this could have been.
6/10
