Michael Douglas does cool arrogance better than almost anyone. As seen in a 60-year-old divorced guy whose life has fallen apart, it’s a compelling quality. Douglas plays a onetime car-dealership king who’s lost almost everything, including his ex-wife (Susan Sarandon), amid some financial shenanigans. The early part of the film centers around his attempts to reinvent his empire while escorting his girlfriend’s daughter to college in Boston, from New York. Even as he worries about health scares and other signs of age, he gives sexual-confidence pointers to one of the college boys (Jesse Eisenberg) and renews his own sexual confidence by bedding an 18-year-old. I suppose it could happen.
Comparisons to the ten-years-older Wonder Boys are apt, not only because of the college setting, or because Douglas plays another sexually irresponsible hotshot who’d lost some luster, but also because of the rambling quality of the story. It’s not that it’s difficult to follow, more than it’s about someone whose life is not proceeding forward, and centered around the behavior of the character. More than the open-ended plot, this makes the movie worth a look. Supporting performances by Jenna Fischer, Danny DeVito, and Mary-Louise Parker complement that of Douglas.
IMDB link
viewed 6/3/10 at Ritz Bourse [PFS screening] and reviewed 6/11/10
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