THE SOULER OPPOSITE

Writer-director Bill Kalmenson makes his feature debut with a somewhat confusing story about romance in THE SOULER OPPOSITE. The intent behind this movie is unclear, leaving the audience with more questions than answers.

The movie begins with two teenagers looking at pictures of nude women and making demeaning comments about them and the whole sexual experience. It then creatively fast-forwards 20 years to 1991 with the two grown men carrying on the same conversation. Barry Singer, a struggling stand-up comic played by Christopher Meloni, and Robert Levin, a married dentist played by Timothy Busfield, are sitting on a bench having lunch and talking about women in the same demeaning way they did as teenagers. Barry, whose comic routine involves sexist jokes about relationships, wonders why he can’t meet the right girl. Meanwhile, Robert thinks that he is in a secure relationship with his wife Diane – “thinks” being the operative word.

Barry performs his routine at an L.A. Cabaret, having difficulty getting work anywhere else. Although funny at times, Barry’s sexist jokes offend many women. The complaints add up, and one night Barry is fired. As he is coming out of the club, one of the women’s husband punches Barry in the parking lot, leaving him on the ground. Thea Douglas, a pretty college senior filling in at the club that night and played by Janet Moloney, sees what happened and comes to help Barry. Thea drives Barry home, but she takes off before he can get her number. It is obvious that she does not find Barry’s sense of humor about women funny. Instead, she is determined to find meaning in her life as well as her relationships.

Intrigued by Thea, Barry pursues her. She finally gives in to his charms. For the first time, Barry learns to open up and share his feelings with Thea. He is quite apprehensive at first, telling her that by sharing his innermost feelings, he fears she might use them to destroy him at a later date. “That’s the risk you’ll have to take,” she responds. Everything goes well until Thea becomes eager to move in with Barry. Terrified by the commitment, Barry stalls, and Thea becomes hurt. Barry once again pursues her, but to no avail. She tells him that she just wants to be friends and wants time to pursue her own life and become more involved with Jerry Brown’s political campaign. Why the sudden flip-flop is never explained. Meanwhile, Robert’s relationship with his wife takes some bizarre turns.

The acting in THE SOULER OPPOSITE is quite good, especially Christopher Meloni’s convincing portrayal of Barry Singer. It is disappointing that the actors did not have a better script. Although creative at times, the avenue that the director Kalmenson chose to depict the men’s view of women (both as teenagers and as adults) is not very tasteful. In the beginning of the movie, for example, one of the teenagers (Barry) is throwing darts at a picture of women’s breasts.

The movie’s story starts out with some interesting issues, especially those dealing with relationships in the 90s. It addresses fear of commitment, fear of vulnerability, self-worth, and sexuality. However, it leaves more questions to be answered, making the intent of the movie unclear at times. For example, it never becomes understood why Thea suddenly leaves Barry and immediately starts a relationship with the campaign manager, Lester. It is also never made clear what is happening in Robert’s relationship. The friendship between Barry and Robert remains on a very superficial level and never develops further.

If some of the issues were examined in depth, this could have been an interesting story. The end of the movie leaves one to wonder what the message is and what point the movie is trying to make. All we know is that misogyny and distrust are featured prominently.