Magnolia Home Entertainment continues their string of indie movie Blu-ray Disc releases with The Answer Man, which was released November 3rd 2009.

Arlen Faber is a famous author who transcribed life’s questions and God’s answers in his book entitled Me and God.

It is now 20 years later and Faber is somewhat of a recluse with a back problem, until he meets Elizabeth, who appears to solve both of these issues.

Elizabeth is a chiropractor who is just starting her business and struggling to raise her seven year old son.

It doesn’t help that she is super protective and feels that she has to be perfect in his presence.

The third main character is Kris, a second book store owner who is just out of rehab, who seeks answers from Arlen in return for allowing Arlen to add his unwanted books to the inventory at the book store.

The characters are for the most part interesting and often funny, though each with individual hang ups and issues, and it becomes clear that Arlen has lost touch with God and may be all out of answers, especially when it comes to his own life.

The storyline plays out as these three characters attempt to interact and not let their foibles get in the way of their relationships.

The performances are strong from a cast that includes Jeff Daniels, Lauren Graham, Lou Taylor Pucci, Olivia Thirlby and Kat Dennings.

The Answer Man was the directorial debut for writer/director John Hindman.

With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 31%, the movie was given a rough reception from the critics, however it did better at the IMDb where it earned a score of 6.5/10.

The IMDb score is more in line with my impression of the movie.

The Answer Man was pretty insignificant at the cinema, reaching only $26.7k at the US box office.

The video on the disc is a VC-1 1080p encode at 23.5 Mbps, and is presented at 1.78:1 aspect ratio, filling the HDTV screen.

Check out the details page for The Answer Man to see full resolution PNG screen captures taken directly from the disc.

The main audio is lossless DTS-HD Master Audio with 5.1 channels - 24 bits resolution at 48 kHz.

The disc is a completely packed single layer BD25 and is coded for All Regions.

The movie comes with a number of supplements, including BD Live connectivity and a commentary with writer/director John Hindman, producer Kevin Messick and Lauren Graham.

There are three behind the scenes featurettes including a reasonably extensive making of called The Answer Man: From Concept To Creation.

A second featurette focuses on the characters of the Answer Man and the HDNet segment A Look At The Answer Man is also included.

While it isn’t the strongest of movies, The Answer Man is certainly a nice example of a film makers first movie and I recommend it to fans of character driven films.

The Answer Man is also a pretty decent Blu-ray release from Magnolia Home Entertainment.

The retail price is $34.98, or order it right now at Amazon for $23.99, saving 31%!

Extras:

• Characters Of The Answer Man
• The Answer Man: From Concept To Creation
• HDNet: A Look At The Answer Man
• Commentary With Writer/Director John Hindman, Producer Kevin Messick And Lauren Graham

Synopsis:

Arlen Faber (Daniels) is the reclusive author of “Me and God,” a book that has redefined spirituality for an entire generation and has been translated into over 100 languages. On the eve of the 20th anniversary of his still wildly popular book, Arlen is still sought after as the man who has all the answers. Arlen’s life collides with Elizabeth (Graham), a single mom raising her seven year-old son, and Kris (Taylor Pucci), a young man fresh out of rehab who is searching for meaning. Both Elizabeth and Kris are hopeful that Arlen has the answers, but the truth is, he hasn’t got a clue.

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