The Answer Man, a rich successful whiny old guy is hard to root for

The Answer Man (2009)
Jamal's Rating: 2 stars
Netflix Average Rating: 3.3 stars

Something that needs to die in movies: toward the end of films like The Answer Man, My Best Friend's Girl, and this site's previous feature The Big Bad Swim, the writers inject into the ending an Artificial Hookup, where two minor characters get together for no other reason than to satisfy the viewer's need for closure.  It's annoying.  And so is Lauren Graham's need for a crotchety old guy played by Jeff Daniels in The Answer Man.  She is much younger, smart and alluring, but somehow attracted to Daniel, who writes a pretentious series of advice books called "Questions to God".  Despite occasional flashes of wit, his underlying cynicism should be enough to destroy their relationship early on.  There are a few funny moments, such as Jeff Daniels falling down in his home injuring his back, helplessly laying a string of curse words as a record skips in the background.  But despite a couple good lead performances and a few good jokes, this is not the satire the pathetic self-help book industry desperately deserves; it actually plays to the crowd who like those kind of books.  Also, why was Kat Dennings even in this movie?  She is beautiful and talented, and woefully underused here.