  AFP PHOTO / VALERY HACHE |
He's seduced them, betrayed them and been victimized by them. And now at the seasoned, silver-coifed age of 65, Michael Douglas -- whose career was once awash with psycho-sexual politics -- says he finally understands a thing or two about women.
Such as? "Unsolicited advice can be seen as a hostile gesture," he told journalists at fall's Toronto International Film Festival.
This is why he never counsels wife Catherine Zeta-Jones about work unless asked, he explains.
Later, during a chat on a downtown hotel patio, he adds, "With men, there's this inherent responsibility and this or that, and women just hate it."
The topic of male-female dynamics is apropos because his latest film, Solitary Man, finds the two-time Oscar winner in top form as a cagey, slick philanderer whose bad behaviour has left his personal and professional life in tatters. It opens in limited release Friday before expanding across Canada in the weeks ahead.
For Douglas, the movie is being hailed as a return to cinematic real estate he once owned. In such seminal hits as Fatal Attraction and Wall Street, he made audiences root for characters they'd normally hiss at. Although in recent years he has drifted toward such broad comedies as The In-Laws and The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Solitary Man is edgy, complex, compelling material.
Still, he says that doesn't mean he necessarily identifies too closely with developmentally arrested alpha males. "I know I get excited about the risk. I know I enjoy flying without a net ... I love the movies. And sometimes you get these great colourful parts ... I don't know if I consciously relate in something in my life, other than risk-taking."
Directors Brian Koppelman and David Levien were similarly enthused. As far as they were concerned, Douglas was the only actor they could envision in the role. So much so that without him, they wouldn't have made the film.
Not that is Douglas finished inhabiting "rascals," as he calls these characters. He'll next be seen reprising Gordon Gekko in a Wall Street sequel, due in the fall.
Off-screen, while his 31-year-old son Cameron was sentenced in April to five years in jail on drug charges, Douglas' family life with Zeta-Jones and their two children has remained settled.
And although he doesn't work as often as he used to, retirement seems unlikely if his genes are an indication. His 93-year-old father, screen legend Kirk Douglas, last year wrote and starred in a one-man show.
"I do wish he'd retire pretty soon. I'm getting tired of talking about him and what his accomplishments are. I'm getting ready to retire and he's still carrying on."
Douglas’ 5 best films
Michael Douglas is best identified with films that cast him as skirt-chasers, swindlers and not-so-nice guys. Like these five:
Fatal Attraction (1987): Douglas is a family man whose one-night stand with unhinged singleton Glenn Close results in a boiled bunny, a kidnapping and much bloodletting. Yet by the end, he's forgiven -- by both his wife and moviegoers.
Basic Instinct (1992): This ridiculous, over-the-top sexual thriller saw Douglas play a cop who falls prey to another hot bag of nuts (Sharon Stone). Although it looks quaint now, 18 years ago, it was provocative, boundary-shredding stuff.
Wall Street (1987): Douglas is so potent as corporate sleaze Gordon Gekko, he actually inspired Gekko wannabes. Remarks Douglas, "The guy was a villain, but if I get one more drunken investment banker coming up to me going, 'You're the man! You're why I got into Wall Street!'... "
War of the Roses (1989): Directed by his long-time friend and colleague Danny DeVito, Douglas re-teamed with Romancing the Stone's Kathleen Turner for a pitch-black comedy about the two sides of marriage: love and "I just want to smash your face in."
Falling Down (1993): In a break from the norm, the nameless government worker Douglas plays here isn't confident or charming. Rather he's an anonymous nobody whose violent spree sheds light on the psyche of the emasculated middle-class white male.
kevin.williamson@sunmedia.ca
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