‘The Answer Man’: No question about it
It’s rare that a movie manages to be both graceful and biting at the same time, let alone smart, funny and sweet. But “The Answer Man” fills the bill.
The directorial debut of writer-director John Hindman, “Answer Man” deals with the big questions, even as it tells a personal story. In this romantic comedy about finding the courage to confront life, Hindman takes an old-fashioned approach: He actually lets people talk to each other as they struggle with their burdens.
On the surface, “Answer Man” is about Arlen Faber (Jeff Daniels), a hugely famous author of a single book, “Me and God,” which is about to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Not that it’s made Arlen happy: He lives an anonymous life in Philadelphia, zealously guarding his identity (apparently the original book didn’t include an author photo) as he tries to stay as unengaged from life as possible.
He’s got personal reasons – which come out in the course of the film – but the most obvious one is that everyone thinks he has the answers to life. “Me and God” has “10 percent of the God market,” as his editor (Nora Dunn) tells him. The book, a series of questions and answers in which Faber appears to be having an actual conversation with the Almighty, has brought comfort to millions. Most of them, it seems, assume Faber still has a direct pipeline to the Big Guy.
Faber is forced to come out of his cocoon, however, when he throws his back out so badly that he’s trapped on the floor of his townhouse, unable to move. Eventually, he crawls – literally – to a newly opened chiropractic clinic in his neighborhood. When the chiropractor, Elizabeth (Lauren Graham), works a seeming miracle on him, he actually notices that she’s an attractive woman, one he’d like to ask out.
In fact, she’s a divorcee with a small son of whom she’s overly protective. She’s so protective, in fact, that he might as well be living in a bubble; he still believes that his father will be back soon, when in fact Dad is long gone and not likely to return. She’s not sure what to think when Arlen begins to court her; having carved out a life she can manage on her own, she’s distrustful of anything that might disrupt it.
The third leg of this trinity is Chris (Lou Taylor Pucci), an alcoholic used-book-store owner just out of rehab. Arlen keeps trying to sell – or even give – his unwanted books to Chris’ store. But Chris can’t afford to buy them and the rehab discipline keeps him from owing anyone. Eventually, Chris discovers Arlen’s identity – and becomes friends after the prickliness subsides.
Hindman’s characters are all afraid of something – and need other people to help them overcome that fear. But they all resist the idea – usually with wisecracks that range from playful to stinging. Yet there is real affection to Hindman’s writing and to the performances of his cast.
Daniels is particularly good, playing Arlen as a smart, self-involved guy suddenly moved to open himself up to someone else. His comic timing is sharp: wonderfully laidback and yet delightfully misanthropic. Yet Daniels has a warmth that makes his transformation credible. Graham also has a likeability that makes the character’s less-adorable quirks understandable, even acceptable, as a woman struggling to figure out how to protect her son from life, an impossible task, as any parent ultimately knows.
Lou Taylor Pucci brings a wired sensitivity to his character – a guy who drinks to numb himself to the stresses he can’t handle and now has to confront reality without his crutch. There’s an active intelligence to the character that keeps him from being too precious; instead, he’s a survivor who’s discovering his own strength.
“The Answer Man” is a pleasure to watch: a movie that blends heart with sharp-edged humor in surprising ways. In a summer full of bloated, self-important films, here’s one that has the modesty to deliver without making a big deal about it.
