Excellent, a Must See

A Disappointing Continuation

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Cheery, romantic and funny. What a lovely feel good flick. Seen it 5 times now and I enjoy it now even more so then at the first viewing. What's the story about: Jeff Daniels has had writer's block for 20 years. Only wrote ONE best seller and now still lives a very comfortable life of the huge roaylties of that one and only bestseller. Jeff Daniels lives as a total recluse. "Hell is other people" is one of his favorite quotes from Sartre. He is a grumpy old solitary man who cant stand anybody around him. But due to a sudden accident he needs to ask for help and comes in contact with a female fysiotherapist who cures his back, but more importantly sets his love life back on fire.Laidback, charming, casual and very funny. Some lighthearted romance as well near the end. But what makes "Arlen Faber / The Answer Man" better than the average comedy is the fact that Jeff Daniels' character has written a book about GOD. This is why lots of serious life questions can be raised by the characters in the film, but all these questions are embedded in a lighthearted comedy context. Almost every serious question is being answered with a quirky funny observation about life in general. Very intelligent, charming and funny. Made me think, made me laugh... a lot!

First of all, I am a Big Fan of Jeff Daniels & Lauren Graham....and I am an ardent reader who loves Books like anything! And, the combo of four (Fourth, being the GOD!) made it deadly tempting for me to watch it all the more! Its a very sweet movie with its own pace showing when we ordinary people at times go through the Solitary phase of our lives...I won't start writing about the story or the characters but would leave it as something to look forward to. Its movie about all of us...searching for answers, looking up to God to help us find them....and in a way to find our own selves back.So If you love s simple, sweet story, love Books, Love God....then do watch it! Its not a master piece of any sort, just a simple sweet...good heart felt movie.

Through the entire movie I was trying to figure out why he was so angry. There wasn't even a glimpse of why until the end where he explains that the book he wrote where he supposedly speaks to God wasn't true. He said he was angry because his father died and he needed answers. He begged God for answers and got none. So he wrote all his questions down. Of course then the answers just started coming to him so he wrote those down too. So then people were asking if he made it all up and everyone seemed angry and upset. This to me is the confusing part. It seems like yet another anti-God or religion movie, and yet isn't anyone going to point out that, that is exactly how God communicates to people. Perhaps not to Prophets, but to the rest of us out there. You are so confused and then suddenly the answers just appear. No we don't hear the voice of God, but that doesn't mean God doesn't talk to us. So I was surprised that no one in the audience when he made this confession said something like that. So although the movie seems like it may be anti-God, it is actually God affirming in my opinion.

When drama is rushed it can feel like the slowest thing in the world. The characters never get any time to breathe. The turmoil that they go through feels so compact, tidy, and meager that it's like your watching nothing at all. That's what it's like watching "The Answer Man", writer/director John Hindman's dramedy-romance about trying to find God and the answers to life's problems. The quest for life's answers seems like a subject done before and this movie is way too bland, stale, and unbelievable to really find the heart.Jeff Daniels plays Arlen Faber, who 20 years ago wrote a book called "Me and God", centering around a conversation he had with the big man himself. The book was a mega-hit but nobody has ever really seen Faber in person. Perhaps because he's a reclusive, angry, stressed out asshole that hates people. He spends his days reading other self-help books and meditating; neither seems to lighten his miserable mood though. When he throws his back out one day, he meets a chiropractor named Elizabeth (Lauren Graham), an obsessive single mother trying to raise a young son. She has no idea who Arlen is at first but after reading the book, she seems to think that he is the one for her. Luckily he likes her too. Kris (Lou Taylor Pucci) completes this tripod of people. He's a recovering alcoholic, just out of rehab, managing a failing bookstore.The whole thing follows James L. Brooks' "As Good as it Gets", without ever reaching a great movie, or even a good one. These people will come together and help each other but it's all done in such a weak and contrived way that none of it is effective. Arlen wants to get rid of some books so he makes a deal with Kris in exchange for some life answers. But can't Arlen just throw them away and not be bothered with Kris at all? And who is Arlen exactly? He changes from miserable crank to charming romantic lead with the snap of a finger. Saying he hates people in one scene and then taking on this silly relationship with Elizabeth where he shows her his monster action figure collection and befriends and acts as father to her young son are very schizophrenic and unbelievable. And Kris' failing business, his alcohol problem, Elizabeth's struggles raising a young son, and the daddy issues that Arlen, Kris and the son have are all given short shrift so that we can see a too-cute romance that never gets off the ground.If Hindman had taken more risks and allowed us to empathize with the characters a little more, this movie would have been much better but it just feels like everyone is trying to shoot it and then move on. No care is given. Daniels tries. He's a good physical comedian and some of the movies best lines come at his most cranky. "I hope to find a cure for people who listen to techno" Arlen mumbles at one point. Graham has a nice smile but she's not called upon to do much. And Pucci tries to grapple with the weight of addiction but he seems more like a fifth wheel than a character and his plot line is just distracting."The Answer Man" looked like a mature, adult answer to some of the crappier romantic comedies coming out this year but it winds up getting it mostly wrong.