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The Soloist


The Soloist


The Soloist is a movie starring Robert Downey Jr, Jamie Foxx and Catherine Keener in some of their finest performances yet. The film takes viewers into the world of the homeless, the talented and even into the office of a journalist and his trip to change himself from the ever so egotistic and careless man he was, to a man that raised above all odds to make a difference for some one who meant absolutely nothing to him bar a story for his column in the paper. In 2005, the only thing hurting Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez (Downey Jr) more than his face from a recent bike accident was his pressing need for story ideas. That was of course before he discovered skilled musician Nathaniel Ayers (Foxx). Ayers is homeless, alone and suffering from a mental illness in which he is forced to battle with. He is absent of medication or any medical treatment and never found himself needing any for the simple fact that he was never a danger to any one. Ayers played a violin with two strings; the rest being broken, and this was when Mister Steve Lopez stumbled upon him, at the foot of a statue of Beethoven. Inspired by what he learns from Ayers, Lopez returns to his office and begins writing a series of stories on the exasperating musician and finds that readers love them. Lopez, inspired by the very feedback he got began to try and aide not only Ayers but the entire homeless community, leading him on a journey in creating new friends, and discovering new talent. None the less, along the path, Ayers (Accompanied by the good intentioned Lopez) is faced with the demons of his past and is forced into a struggle of over coming them.

The film took one of the more original story lines that could have been picked up. Something that would be a good family watch, and something that would be sure to inspire any one out there that wanted to pick up an instrument and try their hand at it; not to mention inspire people to judge people on who they are inside, rather than out. The movie does a good job of explaining itself, hence being very well directed and very well written.

Director Joe Wright was definitely at home with this film, knowing that it was going to be a true successor. His direction was brilliant and every thing in the film felt like it should have been there; anything short and the movie would have simply fell short. There is a good development created throughout the film between characters, as well as a very good set of scene selections for the vast majority of scenes within the film itself.
The movie had it comedic outlooks which was good to see, as well as having its extremely dramatic and heart warming (and heart breaking) moments throughout. The moments were elegantly placed on screen, truly allowing the viewer to feel the pain (and happiness) of the characters and members of the film.

All members of the cast put in a solid performance. Robert Downey Jr as always impressed and the character in which he found himself in the role of was perfect. He truly got the characters emotions across, as well as getting the characters place in life across. Jamie Foxx delivered a great performance as well, and was truly shining in this film, but perhaps not as much as Downey Jr. I truly believed throughout the film that Foxx was Nathaniel, in which brings me to the conclusion that much like Downey Jr he made the character he was placed in the role of his own.

At the moment, there aren't all that many negatives I can come to mention. All questions that you have about the characters are answered throughout the film, and even the supporting cast was great.
This film is definitely worth the watch.

A Musician and a Journalist, good duo? Definitely.