Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- None
- sardonic
- uncomfortable
- melancholic
- quiet evening
- adult drama night
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film dependent on its singularly unpleasant protagonist but praised Michael Douglas for delivering a compelling, finely judged performance.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Ben Kalman’s dishonest business practices, serial infidelity, and transactional relationships steadily undermine his finances and family ties.
The story centers on Ben’s deliberately unpleasant behavior, with Michael Douglas’s performance providing its principal emotional and dramatic anchor.
Ben chooses Jordan partly because her father may help him obtain a new dealership and repeatedly treats sex as a means of escape or leverage.
Ben’s heart problems, lost fortune, sexual pursuit of younger women, and collapsing marriage define a crisis of identity and mortality.
Films like Solitary Man, and why
The Ice Storm
morally compromised protagonist, corrosive self-destruction, and a sharply observed adult drama
Happiness
unpleasant central character, sexual recklessness, and darkly comic family dysfunction
The Visitor
aging male privilege, romantic collapse, and bittersweet existential comedy-drama
Enough Said
adult relationship failures, emotional isolation, and understated comic melancholy
Movie Details
- Directors
- Brian Koppelman, David Levien
- Release Date
- 2009-09-07
- Runtime
- 90 min
- Rating
- 5.9 / 10 (358)
Cast
- Michael Douglas
- Susan Sarandon
- Danny DeVito
- Mary-Louise Parker
- Jenna Fischer
- Imogen Poots
- Jesse Eisenberg
- Richard Schiff
- Jake Siciliano
- David Costabile
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Lionsgate+ Amazon Channel, Starz Apple TV channel, Howdy Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Solitary Man about?
- A disgraced car dealer’s hunger for youth, sex, and reinvention accelerates his fall from privilege into lonely self-reckoning.
- What is Solitary Man like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Solitary Man as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Solitary Man violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Solitary Man.
- What did critics think of Solitary Man?
- Critics broadly found the film dependent on its singularly unpleasant protagonist but praised Michael Douglas for delivering a compelling, finely judged performance.
- Which films are like Solitary Man?
- Films with a similar feel include The Ice Storm, Happiness, The Visitor, and Enough Said.
- How long is Solitary Man?
- Solitary Man runs 90 minutes.
- Where can I watch Solitary Man?
- In United States, Solitary Man streams on Lionsgate+ Amazon Channel, Starz Apple TV channel, Howdy Amazon Channel.
