I wanted so much to like this movie but it wastes too much time on a disconnected and unnecessary plot tangent. The Answer Man is supposed to be the story of three people's lives coming together. Only two of the people in this story really belong there, though, with the third one needlessly crammed in. The result is a tantalizing but ultimately disappointing imbalance that fizzles out at the end.
Arlen Faber (Jeff Daniels) is an author who wrote a book 20 years ago called "Me and God" that sought to answer life's questions. It became a global sensation that's still a major cultural force after two decades. Since writing "Me and God", Arlen has apparently done nothing but wallow in his own misanthropy. He's never written another book or made a single public appearance or comment. He's just sat in his Philadelphia brownstone reading self-help books he finds extremely unhelpful because while Arlen has answered so many questions for others, he can't find any answers for his own frustrating unhappiness.
Then two people enter Arlen's closed off life.
Elizabeth (Lauren Graham) is a chiropractor who becomes the first person to bring any relief to Arlen in who knows how many years when he crawls into her office with near crippling back pain. The awkward and lonely-for-too-long writer and the frantic and super-protective single mother strike up a relationship, with Elizabeth even introducing Arlen to her son Alex (Max Antisell). She's the first person Arlen has felt something more than contempt for in a long time and he's someone Elizabeth finds fascinating, if a little too sharp edged for complete comfort.
Kris (Lou Taylor Pucci) is a bookstore owner in Arlen's neighborhood who just got out of rehab. His store is failing because his gigantic idiot of an assistant left it closed for the 28 days Kris was in rehab. He hates going to AA meetings and refused to let them be any help. He's also struggling with trying to live a sober life in the same crappy apartment with his still boozing dad (Thomas Ray). One day, Arlen tries to sell some of his unsatisfying self-help books and Kris categorically refuses, for reasons that only someone from AA or Al-Anon would really understand. Kris and Arlen eventually strike a deal where books will be exchanged for answers to life's questions.
You may already have noticed from my description what the trouble is with The Answer Man. While Arlen and Elizabeth have a real story between them, bitter man and anxious woman struggle to overcome themselves and be together, Kris is this tangential character thrust into the mix without adding anything to it. Kris and Arlen literally do not have a meaningful interaction until the movie is half over. Kris and Elizabeth don't interact substantively until the film is two-thirds over. Kris isn't interesting. His life isn't interesting. He doesn't contribute anything to the story that couldn't have been done by a less intrusive plot device. Yet every time the movie starts to give the audience a closer look at Arlen and Elizabeth and their relationship, it pulls away to spend time with Kris.
That gets pretty frustrating after a while, because Jeff Daniels and the delightful Lauren Graham have got something good going on in The Answer Man. Yeah, they're not doing anything you haven't seen before in a romantic comedy, but they're doing it quite well. However, the audience can never get more than a millimeter beneath the surface of these characters, their history and their courtship because the film is always cutting away to the useless third wheel that is Kris.
For example, Arlen's father died 5 years ago from Alzheimer's and Elizabeth's husband ran out on her and Alex 3 years ago. The Answer Man spends less than a minute on each of those things, even though both should be essential to understanding Arlen and Elizabeth, solely to give Lou Taylor Pucci more screen time.
There are a couple of glimmers in the film of what writer/director John Hindman intended to do with Kris, but he never actually does any of it. The end result is that when the movie gets to its big ending where Arlen and Elizabeth are supposed to break up and then get back together, it all feels forced and contrived because the two of them haven't had enough time on screen together and separately to give that predictable conclusion any emotional support.
The Answer Man isn't bad. It's like getting into a nice looking car, starting it up and then idling in park without going anywhere.
Arlen Faber (Jeff Daniels) is an author who wrote a book 20 years ago called "Me and God" that sought to answer life's questions. It became a global sensation that's still a major cultural force after two decades. Since writing "Me and God", Arlen has apparently done nothing but wallow in his own misanthropy. He's never written another book or made a single public appearance or comment. He's just sat in his Philadelphia brownstone reading self-help books he finds extremely unhelpful because while Arlen has answered so many questions for others, he can't find any answers for his own frustrating unhappiness.
Then two people enter Arlen's closed off life.
Elizabeth (Lauren Graham) is a chiropractor who becomes the first person to bring any relief to Arlen in who knows how many years when he crawls into her office with near crippling back pain. The awkward and lonely-for-too-long writer and the frantic and super-protective single mother strike up a relationship, with Elizabeth even introducing Arlen to her son Alex (Max Antisell). She's the first person Arlen has felt something more than contempt for in a long time and he's someone Elizabeth finds fascinating, if a little too sharp edged for complete comfort.
Kris (Lou Taylor Pucci) is a bookstore owner in Arlen's neighborhood who just got out of rehab. His store is failing because his gigantic idiot of an assistant left it closed for the 28 days Kris was in rehab. He hates going to AA meetings and refused to let them be any help. He's also struggling with trying to live a sober life in the same crappy apartment with his still boozing dad (Thomas Ray). One day, Arlen tries to sell some of his unsatisfying self-help books and Kris categorically refuses, for reasons that only someone from AA or Al-Anon would really understand. Kris and Arlen eventually strike a deal where books will be exchanged for answers to life's questions.
You may already have noticed from my description what the trouble is with The Answer Man. While Arlen and Elizabeth have a real story between them, bitter man and anxious woman struggle to overcome themselves and be together, Kris is this tangential character thrust into the mix without adding anything to it. Kris and Arlen literally do not have a meaningful interaction until the movie is half over. Kris and Elizabeth don't interact substantively until the film is two-thirds over. Kris isn't interesting. His life isn't interesting. He doesn't contribute anything to the story that couldn't have been done by a less intrusive plot device. Yet every time the movie starts to give the audience a closer look at Arlen and Elizabeth and their relationship, it pulls away to spend time with Kris.
That gets pretty frustrating after a while, because Jeff Daniels and the delightful Lauren Graham have got something good going on in The Answer Man. Yeah, they're not doing anything you haven't seen before in a romantic comedy, but they're doing it quite well. However, the audience can never get more than a millimeter beneath the surface of these characters, their history and their courtship because the film is always cutting away to the useless third wheel that is Kris.
For example, Arlen's father died 5 years ago from Alzheimer's and Elizabeth's husband ran out on her and Alex 3 years ago. The Answer Man spends less than a minute on each of those things, even though both should be essential to understanding Arlen and Elizabeth, solely to give Lou Taylor Pucci more screen time.
There are a couple of glimmers in the film of what writer/director John Hindman intended to do with Kris, but he never actually does any of it. The end result is that when the movie gets to its big ending where Arlen and Elizabeth are supposed to break up and then get back together, it all feels forced and contrived because the two of them haven't had enough time on screen together and separately to give that predictable conclusion any emotional support.
The Answer Man isn't bad. It's like getting into a nice looking car, starting it up and then idling in park without going anywhere.