Alaska Employment Law

Michael Douglas looks more and more like his dad Kirk, doesn’t he?

In Solitary Man, the junior Douglas, as he does often and well, plays a cad. Ben Kalman is an ex-high end car dealer who engaged in some shady floor plan financing, lost his dealership, paid a lot of money, and even spent a day in jail. Entering his 60s, he drinks too much, chases women way too much, and does some impressively stupid things, like sleeping with the 18-year-old daughter (ruthlessly played by Imogen Poots) of his age-appropriate mistress (Mary-Louis Parker) on a trip to visit a college campus – the campus where Ben, back when he was rich, dedicated a building or two. So broke that his own daughter (Jenna Fischer) and ex-wife (played beautifully by Susan Sarandon) won’t help him out anymore, Ben takes a job at the restaurant run by an old college friend (Danny DeVito, who is great in this role). That doesn’t work out, either, though it’s a charming bit.

Why do we care? Ben lives for his own enthusiasms, no matter how they affect those around him. In a very odd way, he’s alive.

The supporting cast in this film is excellent, too.
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Nice summary from the Philadelphia Inquirer’s review:

Douglas is extraordinary as the salesman who believes his own spiel, trying to reclaim his vanished empire by working connections he treats with such casual contempt.   For this businessman, everything – work, sex, relationships – is a transaction designed to maximize his personal pleasure and minimize his emotional exposure.  How is it that Ben, who deceives no one else, can be so self-deceived? This is the delicious paradox of Douglas’ performance. The more unscrupulous Ben is, the more entertaining Solitary Man gets.