Film

Anyone who claims to have had a phone conversation with God—especially anyone who parlays that claim into a best-selling book—is almost certainly full of shit. This comes as a surprise to most of the characters in The Answer Man, which should give you an idea of the film’s preferred level of cutesiness. It turns out that Arlen Faber (Daniels), author of the Conversations with God–like best-seller Me and God, actually doesn’t have all of life’s answers; however good he is at providing advice (and persistent hectoring from fans has led him into semi-hiding), he’s horrible to everyone he meets, including an alcoholic bookseller (Pucci) who’s been added to the film for almost purely didactic purposes.

But everything changes when curmudgeon Arlen crawls literally hand over hand into the office of a pretty, single-mom chiropractor (Graham), who melts when he waxes philosophic on the joys of shaking hands with her son. Suddenly Arlen dispenses charm and wisdom with the regularity of a Pez machine. This is all innocuous enough (not least because the God of Me and God is nondenominational). But it’s also not particularly funny and, apart from a refreshing use of Philadelphia locations, almost irritatingly bland. It’s not fair to look to a movie like this for a miracle, but entertainment would be fine.