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Solitary Man

Play trailer Poster for Solitary Man R Released May 21, 2010 1h 29m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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78% Tomatometer 99 Reviews 50% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
A series of bad decisions upends car dealer Ben Kalmen's (Michael Douglas) business, his wandering eye costs him his marriage to Nancy (Susan Sarandon), and he has to relocate from a grand home to a tiny flat. Even Ben's current girlfriend Jordan (Mary-Louise Parker) knows he's far from perfect. But a hastily planned trip to Boston -- he's showing Jordan's teen daughter, Allyson (Imogen Poots), one of the city's many colleges -- just might rouse Ben from his losing streak.
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Solitary Man

Solitary Man

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Critics Consensus

Built around a singularly unpleasant main character, Solitary Man needed a flawless central performance to succeed -- and Michael Douglas delivers.

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Critics Reviews

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Chris Chang Film Comment Magazine The film begins and ends with scenes of acute existential reflection, a state actors rarely convey convincingly-least of all in a contemporary American film. Nov 13, 2013 Full Review Nick Schager Lessons of Darkness Koppelmans script is awash in phony scenarios. Rated: C Oct 12, 2010 Full Review Angie Errigo Empire Magazine A terrific turn by Douglas, and strong support, elevates this character-driven drama above its unlikeable protagonist. Rated: 3/5 Oct 8, 2010 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review It’s difficult to imagine anyone else but Douglas making Ben Kalmen such a likable character. Rated: 3/4 Aug 9, 2023 Full Review Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) Solitary Man enjoys cataloging despicable people. [Full review in Spanish] Jul 15, 2022 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins A little incomplete and largely unsatisfying. Rated: 4/10 Nov 30, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (828) audience reviews
isla s This is a kind of interesting film. The main flaw is the main character, Ben Kalmen - someone who isn't very likeable. He has a way of distancing himself from others, including (of course) decent friends. The performances are ok and it's pretty watchable, if a bit cheesy/cringe-inducing at times perhaps, at worst. I suppose it was interesting to see how Ben worked around his situations, to not allow others to see (or perceive) him as he knew himself to be, indeed as he is - a bit of a drifter. It's not a film that will appeal to all but its ok. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Middle aged (0ld) men will get this movies. Others probably won't hence the negative reviews. And that's just fine with me. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member The movie sucked, it was boring. It was disgusting to see Mike's wrinkly old body, and even more disgusting to see him groping and kissing that beautiful, young college girl. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Good movie with yet again , Michael Douglas playing a sleepy jerk , which he does well. I really liked the story line , but wished the movie was fleshed out more. If they had actually shown growth or a learning curve for Douglasses character ( not anything sappy ) it would have been a much better movie. Douglas very good at playing this character type... Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Disgustingly creepy. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Good character based film. Not much on plot though. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Solitary Man

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis A series of bad decisions upends car dealer Ben Kalmen's (Michael Douglas) business, his wandering eye costs him his marriage to Nancy (Susan Sarandon), and he has to relocate from a grand home to a tiny flat. Even Ben's current girlfriend Jordan (Mary-Louise Parker) knows he's far from perfect. But a hastily planned trip to Boston -- he's showing Jordan's teen daughter, Allyson (Imogen Poots), one of the city's many colleges -- just might rouse Ben from his losing streak.
Director
Brian Koppelman, David Levien
Producer
Paul Schiff, Steven Soderbergh, Heidi Jo Markel
Screenwriter
Brian Koppelman
Distributor
Anchor Bay
Production Co
Nu Image, Paul Schiff
Rating
R (Some Sexual Content|Language)
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 21, 2010, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$4.4M
Runtime
1h 29m
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