I meant to see Solitary Man for almost two months but something always got in the way. The film is mostly known for the performance of Michael Douglas as a disgraced businessman looking back on his youth and trying to move on. Actually, this film should have been the sequel to Wall Street; the screenplay seems better and it does not star Shia LaBeouf.
A former car magnate experiencing a midlife crisis ruins his personal and business life with a series of indiscretions. After experiencing a significant amount of success, Ben Kalmen somehow became extremely arrogant. Believing that the rules don’t apply to him, he divorced his wife, conceived a massive fraud scheme, and alienating all of his friends and family. Now, he has finally hit rock bottom. Only his college friend (Danny DeVito) and his daughter are willing to stand by him.
Douglas is captivating, playing an absolute degenerate who somehow engenders the sympathy of the audience. He has fallen from success into abject failure and is trying to make sense of it. As Kalman explains it, he was disappointed from being the centre of attention in a room or a person on the fringes. Finally, he attends a party on his old college, he is nothing but a desperate old man who deserves to be ignored.
Kalman claims to care for others but his actions are nothing but selfish. Claims of persecution are nothing but whines of self-pity. Although few in numbers, those willing to give him a second-chance, like his old college friend or ex-wife (Susan Sarandon), step forward to help him redeem himself.
One could argue that this tragic hero does not experience a significant catharsis. Certainly, Kalman displays hubris and hamartia which lead to his peripeteia. There is a fair bit of pathos but it is unclear if the hero recognizes what he has done and vows to change his ways. Tragedies can have a happy ending but this film simply ends inconclusively. When Kalman visits his ex-wife, he wonders why she hasn’t changed anything, including the sofa. “Is it still the world’s most comfortable couch?” “Yes.” “I don’t change what works.” ***