The Answer Man
Starring Jeff Daniels, Lauren Graham, Lou Taylor Pucci, Kat Dennings, and Olivia Thirlby
Directed by John Hindman
Continuing on with my thoughts on movies nobody's heard of...
Set in Philadelphia (which is likely why it played the Ritz and nowhere else), The Answer Man tells the tale of Arlen Faber (Daniels), a writer whose only book - Me and God - became an international bestseller, catapulting him to the top of the chart for years. While Arlen is a self-help guru for many, he secludes himself in his home, avoiding calls from his editor (the surprisingly charming Nora Dunn) who is asking him to help her out promoting the 20th anniversary of his book. Arlen wants nothing to do with it and his curmudgeonly attitude isn't helped by severe back pain.
One day he decides he's had enough with his injury and he heads to a chiropractor (Graham). While there, he begins to fall for the charming young practitioner, Elizabeth, and they begin to date each other. Additionally, there's another side story with a young twentysomething guy (Pucci) who just got out of rehab and is finding it difficult to stay alcohol-free.
So, the summary above seems like a lot of nothing. Two very disparate stories that don't really make a lot of sense together. And you'd be right. The first 30 minutes of this flick play like a slapsticky comedy and they just plain don't work. Somehow, though, a third of the way through this movie, it won me over. I don't know why (although I'm sure the cute and winning Lauren Graham had something to do with it), but I ended up really liking this rather simple movie.
Jeff Daniels is the kind of actor that you don't really remember in anything, but you just tend to find him a likable guy on the screen. Lauren Graham is easy on the eyes and perfectly cast here. Lou Taylor Pucci (an actor I'd never heard of before this year who's now been in three 2009 movies that I've seen) was fine, but his role could've been excised without causing much damage to the plot. And that's the real problem with the movie -- a bunch could've been removed without causing harm to the crux of the story.
Still, it's worth a free stream on Netflix if you've got 90 minutes to spare and want a "nice" movie to watch. With the exception of a few F-bombs here and there, it's something you could easily watch with your grandmother and not be embarrassed.
Also, side note: Tony Hale of Arrested Development fame has a role in this (I know that statement just got one person that reads this to watch it).
The RyMickey Rating: C
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