Every now and again a film comes along that is elegant in its simplicity. Even better yet, charming, witty and moving but not in a syrupy way. That reminds you that a movie need not be a blockbuster, filled with special effects galore and a mega cast to be a worthwhile film. One such film is the subject of today’s review. The Answer Man.
Film
The Answer Man is set in Philadelphia and stars Jeff Daniels as Arlen Faber known as the writer of the internationally famous book, Me and God, where Arlen claims to have been able to speak to God directly and have God reveal to him, the answers to life’s most basic mysteries and problems.
The book redefined spirituality for an entire generation and was translated into over 100 different languages. There is only one problem. Rather than being an introspective man of God, Arlen is a curmudgeon, who has no patience for the for life’s many minor daily irritants and who has a mouth that any sailor would be proud of. The various expletives he hurls at the begging of the film when he has to answer the door for the mail man is priceless. I know the feeling well.
Despite his claimed pipeline to God, Arlen really has no friends and no social interaction and is totally unable to deal with the problems and issues in his life that his book was able to solve for so many others.. His picture never appeared on his book and he has turned down all requests for interviews to discuss his book even to the point of refusing to cooperate with any of the publicity surrounding the 20th anniversary of the publication of the book that his publisher and only connection to the outside world, tries to schedule.
I guess that is not surprising as I guess one would become weary very quickly of being in demand as the man with all the answers. It is against this backdrop that we are introduced to the other main characters in the film that become intertwined with Arlen’s life, Elizabeth (Lauren Graham) and her 7 year old son and Kris (Lou Taylor Pucci) a man in his early 20′s and owner of a local used book store who has just been released from a treatment center for alcoholism.
Arlen meets Elizabeth, a chiropractor, who he seeks out for treatment of his back pain which becomes totally debilitating, crawling on all fours through the streets of Center City Philadelphia, arriving at Elizabeth’s office as her first patient, although this fact is unknown to Arlen. Elizabeth is able to relieve his pain, a feat that no other medical doctors have been able to. Arlen immediately feels an attraction to Elizabeth as well as a bond with her son. Arlen’s relationship with Chris is a bit more problematic. It begins when Arlen tries to sell some books to Chris at Chris’s store. Chris refuses as he lacks the funds to purchase them as his store was closed for the three weeks he was away in rehab. He refuses to take the books for free, and rebuffs Arlen’s attempts to drop the books off at his store in secret.
Once he learns who Arlen is, he seeks him out to help him deal with his life’s struggles in dealing with his alcoholism as well as his sickly father, who is an alcoholic as well. Arlen agrees with the proviso that Chris take one book from him for each question answered. Things are going well between Arlen and Elizabeth until Arlen fails to help Chris through a crisis, which forces Arlen to confront and admit to a lie he has been leading for the past 20 years.
I really enjoyed this film and can recommend it for anyone looking for a smart indie film that deals with subjects which are far too little the subject of major Hollywood films. This film really deserves a wider audience and should be seen, if only on the basis of a rental.
Video
All in all, this is an excellent looking encode and one that is deserving of a rating of a rating somewhere between the 4 star rating given and a 4.5 star rating which is the next rating level on our scale. A 4.25 rating is just about right, as the image on this release is better than a 4 star rating and not quite up to the 4.5 level.
The film has a very natural color palette with excellent skin tone reproduction. Blacks are deep and stable but not quite as inky as the very best looking films. Film grain is also well preserved here and I couldn’t detect any significant use of digital noise reduction or edge enhancement. This release has a very film like appearance which I am sure film buffs will find very pleasing. Detail and clarity are good although not outstanding, with the image having an overall general softness to it which is no doubt intentional on the part of first time director, John Hindman, who also happened to have been the author of the screenplay. All and all, I was more than pleased with the look of this film and believe that you will as well.
Audio
As one would expect from this kind of film, the sound design employed on The Answer Man is not all that sophisticated. The sound here is very front heavy with little use of the surrounds. The film is essentially a dialogue driven film with a touch of room ambiance. However, the overall fidelity of the sound is quite good, sounding smooth and warm without a hint of harshness. The dialogue track is well recorded and always intelligible which is a good thing in a totally dialogue driven film. Just don’t expect much in the way of deep bass and bombast here.
Special Features
The extras here can’t really be described as extensive and consist pretty much of the basics. Included is a commentary with writer/director John Hindman, producer Kevin Messick and Lauren Graham. Also included as a featurette entitled Characters of the Answer Man along with another featurette, The Answer Man: From Concept to Creation, both of which are rather self explanatory, featuring interviews with the cast and crew of the film.. The final extra is a short featurette that appeared on HDNet about the film entitled HDNet: A Look At The Answer Man.
Final Thoughts
The Answer Man is a well made and well written independent film which really deserves a wider audience. Do yourself a favor and check this film out, even if only on the basis of a rental. I am sure you will be as pleased as I was.
