Solitary Man: A Study in Attitude, Time, and Sex
Posted: Sunday, September 19, 2010
by Brombergs 2 Cents
Do you know people who do not have a healthy perspective of life?
This film is Michael Douglas at his best: An unpleasant man using his own self-interest actions to fill the void of his high-risk, high reward lifestyle.
Solitary Man is valuable to us because we can learn from this character:
When we reach an emotionally charged change in life, like a change in health or a death of a loved one, a few ways to go about the coping process are to use drugs, sex, alcohol, rotten attitude, or all of the above.
Here are 4 rules that are illustrated in the film:
Rule #1: Do not screw people that you know you shouldn't be screwing.
Michael Douglas is around 60 years old and throughout the movie
we see him "do his thing" by flirting with and having sex with women
that are 40 years younger.
Rule #2: Be on time.
When we get to a low point in our life we have such difficulty
because we feel like we start losing control of everything… our sanity,
our job, our friends, or whatever. You can almost always control
showing up for things and so even if you have not had a good day, a
good week, or a good year… be at places when you say you will!
Rule #3: Make other people aware that you care about people other than yourself.
This is a big one for Michael Douglas' character, Ben. There is an interesting scene between Ben and Danny DeVito's
character Jimmy in which Ben asks Jimmy basically how can he be friends
with him given they have been out of touch for 30 years. Jimmy and Ben
are in two different perspectives about what it means to be in a
relationship, and this dichotomy is an intriguing contrast… it is true
to people that we actually know in life… maybe more like Ben, maybe
more like Jimmy… or just somewhere in between.
Rule #4: Ask other people what they think of you, even if you don't care.
Some people never really care so much about what others think,
but sometimes, even by accident, you can get a sense if you have said
the wrong thing, or the right thing and this is important for people
like Ben because, given that we often have a distorted view of
ourselves and how we are perceived by others, knowing how we treat
others in their point of view is pertinent to our quality of life.
This movie is a convincing character study of a man who needs to
come to the realization that there are other ways to deal with life's
curveballs. The acting is superb with such well known talent as Susan Sarandon, playing Ben's ex-wife, and Jenna Fischer (known as Pam in the TV series The Office), who plays Ben's daughter.
I recommend this film... we'll watch Ben in his routines, but
at the end we see him come to a realization of his actions and why he
has put himself in such a solitary place in life.
The movie is not about a man who is anti-social… far from it. The
problem with Ben is that he has difficulty creating meaning from
relationships that should count … from friends or family that show him
love. This is a lesson we all could learn from as we come to our own
realizations of people that we have pushed away for whatever reason. It
is hard for many of us to nurture our relationships in a healthy way
and watching this movie can remind how important these special people
are to us, especially in the low points of life.
Acting: 9
Cinematography: 5
Story: 8
Michael Douglas is the perfect actor for this role and I doubt
anyone would disagree. See this movie for the acting, see it for the
story, see it to help you reflect on your own strengths and weakness of
where you are in your life.
3 out of 4 stars.
It sounds like my kind of film, plus I like Michael Douglas, he's got a big acting range. I'm surprised that with a good script and cast they didn't have good cinematography. Can't understand film producers! Still, if it can only be two out of the three, I'll take good acting and script. Thanks for another good review, Bromberg!Hey Jennifer! Well, the 5 for the cinematography means it was average. I didn't notice anything particularly good or bad with it... which is not necessarily a bad thing. Definitely 2 out of the 3, especially if it is story and acting, works for me too! Glad you enjoyed the review and you will probably like the film so, put it on your list! Thanks for the comment!-Bromberg
