My Movie Review: Solitary Man

My Movie Review: Solitary Man
4/5

Opening Statement: Michael Douglas is back as the Solitary Man. An older guy who is told bad news at a doctors office, and then spends his life trying to live it up causing catastrophic things to his career, marriage, relationships, and overall his ability to cope with the world.


What's Good: I loved this movie. Such great screenwriting, with well-written dialogue said by such a great ensemble. One thing you must know about Solitary Man is it deals with a character who is NOT MEANT TO BE LIKED. I mean how the hell am I suppost to care about an old man who manipulates and sleeps with college girls and neglects his family? Oh wait I know the answer. I am not. I didn't care about Michael Douglas' character, but I did ever so care about his journey through self-relization. The psychological effect of the possibility of death truly damaged this character. Douglas plays the character he plays best. One cast member i'd like to give a shout out to is Danny Devito. I miss this guy, and he is such a talented actor who has an ability to do many different roles. Another actor to add to my list of actors to see win an Oscar before I die. 
                What really tied me to this movie was the way this character acted. I often questioned why he would do such a thing like that, than I realized, this could be one of those moments where I am actually too young to understand. I understand that the older you get, the more death corrupts your mind and changes your outlook on life.  You can call this Wade's Life Crisis Theory. The biggest life crisis you have is of course, the mid life crisis. However I also believe you have a crisis sometime in your teen-hood about starting your life, and at the end of adulthood the crisis before you die. This movie aspired that theory upon to me. 
               Not much of a musical score is with-held in Solitary Man, there are a couple peaceful tones through our characters enlightenment but that's about it. The technical aspects of the film are held low, which is why this is an independent film. Such a great cast, a fantastic script, I loved it.


What's Bad: At times early on the pacing may feel a little slow. Throughout the film Michael Douglas is ranting on an on about his theory on certain aspects of life. I can honestly see how that might get dull for people, it wasn't for me. Besides that my negative criticism for this movie is pretty low.


The Rant: I was about to break off into a tangent in my "what's good" section but I saved it for here. Much like Greenberg, critics don't like the anti-protagonist. I hate how a character has to be complete likable to be our protagonist. Well the writers behind this obviously found an interest in the development of this character, and that is what it really is about. At no point are we suppost to fall in love with this guy. We are suppost to study him, observe how he acts in certain situations and what causes him to act that way. It's like insulting a movie if it doesn't follow a specific rising action, climax, falling action structure. It's truly a psychological view on human behavior in certain situations. It is also very entertaining watching this character grow for better and for worse.


Consensus: Solitary Man is a great view of the final "crisis" in life. Michael Douglas is solid in his performance as the anti-protagonist, and we grow to love his characters development throughout the film.