Solitary Man (2009)

A car magnate watches his personal and professional life hit the skids because of his business and romantic indiscretions.

Directors:

Brian Koppelman, David Levien

Writer:

Brian Koppelman

Stars:

Michael Douglas, Susan Sarandon, Jesse Eisenberg

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Douglas	...	Ben Kalmen
Susan Sarandon	...	Nancy Kalmen
Danny DeVito	...	Jimmy Merino
Mary-Louise Parker	...	Jordon Karsch
Jenna Fischer	...	Susan Porter
Imogen Poots	...	Allyson Karsch
Jesse Eisenberg	...	Daniel Cheston
Richard Schiff	...	Steve Heller
Jake Siciliano	...	Scotty
David Costabile	...	Gary Porter
Ben Shenkman	...	Peter Hartofilias
Anastasia Griffith	...	Carol Salomonde
Alex Kaluzhsky	...	Ted Loof
Simona Williams	...	Nurse (as Simona Levin Williams)
James Colby	...	Sgt. John Haverford

Storyline

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?

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Plot Keywords:

marriage | sex on the floor | womanizer | fellatio | aspirin | 

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Taglines:

Ben loves his family almost as much as he loves himself

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

25 June 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

El hombre solitario

Filming Locations:

City Island, Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$94,936, 23 May 2010, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$4,360,548, 4 October 2010

Company Credits

Production Co:

Millennium Films, Paul Schiff Productions, Smartest Man Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Signs for the names of administration buildings and dormitories at Fordham University were temporarily replaced for the filming of the movie.

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Quotes

Jimmy Merino: When my father gave me this place years ago, I used to dream about these girls. Every night, dreams, all kinds of dreams about 'em. But then I'd see them coming back after graduation. They'd come to homecomings, ballgames. They'd sit at the same tables, eat the same food. And I'd look at them and I noticed, they don't stay like this. None of 'em. They put on years and pounds and wrinkles. And I got one like that at home. So. And we can talk to each other. I know her and I'll always know her.

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Connections

Referenced in Late Show with David Letterman: Michael Keaton/Jenna Fischer (2010)

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Soundtracks

Let Me Be
Written by Genevieve Goings and Roland Apikelis
Performed by Legato
Published by Astonishing Music (BMI)/ Music Expressions (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Crucial Music Corporation

User Reviews

A creepy character drags us through his own disintegration

This movie is unlike any you are likely to see this year or the next few years. It seems somewhat like a French or Euro remake in that the story revolves around a man who "flaunts convention" and sleeps with any young woman who pleases him, even though his family (ex-wife, adult offspring) are well aware of his bedroom adventures and taunt him about his behavior.

His current girlfriend, who apparently knows something of and tolerates his loose standards, presses him to go with her daughter to a college admission interview over a weekend out of town. When he seduces the daughter, it is a shocking turn of events that marks this film as strikingly different. When she reveals the blatant transgression, the shocks continue. (Am I in Paris here?) So much for the first third or so of the film, which really amounts to the set-up. Disaster follows Michael Douglas' character around like a bad haircut. His chance for a comeback in business, and life, is squashed by the influential relations of his now ex-girlfriend and he descends farther into a world only he would want to inhabit.

With a more traditional storyline, this is where he would either become some sort of psycho killer or pull himself up and out to rebuild his life. Nothing doing here. There is a lot more down and self degradation to follow. He's on a mission.

I was wondering what could trigger not just a moral collapse, but that of a human being who, were are told, was one day the toast of the business world in New York and made so many millions that he had a college library named after him. You see, Ben Kalman, the main character, behaves like someone with no moral backbone at all, someone who either knows no limits or is bent on self destruction.

Fearing that the audience couldn't figure this thing out for themselves, the movie serves an explanation up complete, as if Ben Kalman, victim of himself, could somehow suddenly understand why he was doing what he was doing and consider the idea of change. All too pat, and not believable to boot. We are made to, forced to, care about a deeply flawed character and given an explanation that just doesn't hold water. If he were capable of this level of creepiness, it seems very unlikely that he would have risen to such heights and been loved and adored by so many. Obviously, there must have been some deep character flaw in him all along, but we have no idea what it might have been.

Otherwise decent people do, every day, go off the deep end. Some people commit acts of unkindness, even violence, for which friends and family can never forgive. How can one bit of unfortunate news about possible health problems send a man so far away from his grounding on planet earth and cause him to ruin everything in his life? I don't know, which is one reason, although this is a startlingly original movie with good to great acting all around, that I ultimately don't care about it and wish I could forget it.

There was one truly wise scene with DeVito discussing why he never chases young women that was almost worth the price of admission.

Doug Terry