The Answer Man

The Answer Man is a smart, delightful, charming, funny, heartbreaking little movie written and directed by John Hindman. Jeff Bridges stars as Arlen Faber, a phenomenally popular self-help writer who has been in hiding for twenty years. Arlen wrote one book, and now millions of fans want to ask him their own questions about life, but Arlen doesn’t want to be bothered by them, until he meets a young man struggling with alcoholism, and falls for a chiropractor with a young son. There shouldn’t be a single likeable character in this movie. Everyone has something wrong. Arlen still has issues accepting his father’s death, five years afterward and has problems relating to other human beings. Elizabeth is in fear every minute of her life. Her son still doesn’t understand that his dad is gone for good because his mother hasn’t talked to him about it. Kris is a recovering alcoholic who fears that he can never be any better; that an alcoholic, like his father, is all that he will ever be. None of these characters should be likeable, yet as soon as we meet these people we care for them and what they’re going through.

The writing for this movie is excellent. Tightly wound, every character gets his equal share of screen time, all of them get their happy ending. We’re really cheering for all of them by the end, hoping that everything turns out right, Hindman has created people in this movie, not just characters. By giving them faults, we come to care for them even more, because they are all the more real, we can relate to them because we all have problems too. The Answer Man is all about moving past those problems, admitting that they are there and moving on. The movie is much like its titular protagonist, giving us answers and dispensing wisdom.

The acting was well done. Jeff Bridges is one of my favorite actors, not because he’s the best there is, but because it seems to me that whatever he does, he really puts his heart into. His performance here is a heart filled one. Lauren Graham and Lou Taylor Pucci are also outstanding as Elizabeth and Kris. The humor in this movie is well written and delivered well to really give us something to laugh at as well as something to think about and be uplifted by.

The Answer Man is a fun and uplifting movie that will give anyone with a heart something to enjoy.