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The Answer Man

The Answer Man

Comedy · Romance · 2009

Twenty years ago, Arlen Faber wrote a book about spirituality that became wildly popular. These days, he's a curmudgeonly recluse who only enjoys the company of his chiropractor, Elizabeth. As Elizabeth's warmth starts to melt Arlen's cold heart, he comes to realize what love really means.

Movie details

The Answer Man

“He wrote the book on life's big questions. But the truth is he hasn't got a clue.”

2009 Comedy · Romance 1h 35m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.4 / 10

7.4K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

32 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

44 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.2 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Twenty years ago, Arlen Faber wrote a book about spirituality that became wildly popular. These days, he's a curmudgeonly recluse who only enjoys the company of his chiropractor, Elizabeth. As Elizabeth's warmth starts to melt Arlen's cold heart, he comes to realize what love really means.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Answer Man?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

John Hindman

Written by

John Hindman

Jeff Daniels

Jeff Daniels

Arlen Faber

Lauren Graham

Lauren Graham

Elizabeth

Lou Taylor Pucci

Lou Taylor Pucci

Kris Lucas

Kat Dennings

Kat Dennings

Dahlia

Olivia Thirlby

Olivia Thirlby

Anne

Morgan Turner

Morgan Turner

Singing Daughter

Nora Dunn

Nora Dunn

Terry Fraser

Court is in session

Put The Answer Man on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.