The Soloist

Movie Grade: B+

From February to the beginning of May is an awkward time for movie releases. There are always a few good films that come out, but for the most part it's a relatively dry time for movies. With the Academy Awards past and summer blockbusters in the not-so-distant future, movie-goers have to make due with what is given to them. The Soloist seems to be at the top of its league, where it would most likely be looked over in Oscar season and unappreciated next to all the pretty explosions; it can truly flourish in these few months.

The film is about Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.), a journalist who is looking for a story, and Nathaniel Ayres (Jamie Foxx), a homeless musical prodigy with schizophrenia. From what the trailer showed, it seemed like the movie would revolve around Steve trying to get Nathaniel to make a comeback and, for a while, it looked like it might head in that direction, but to my great surprise it didn't. This one graciously leaves the clichés at the door and brings us a story that is more about the dynamics of the odd relationship brewing between Steve and Nathaniel.

Don't take the introduction to this harshly, because the film is actually quite good. There is just the right level of drama and dark humor to really make this a good movie experience. As sad as it can be, at times, Nathaniel's ramblings give a bit of a chuckle in what might have otherwise been a stale scene. Also, Downey Jr. has a great sense of sarcasm seen in a lot of his characters that was thankfully not left out of this one. Aside from the few very tense scenes, his character handles frustration with a sort of mockery of the situation.

As far as acting is concerned, Jamie Foxx definitely deserves recognition for an outstanding performance as Nathaniel. When he is meant to give comic relief, he does, and when he is meant to be touching, he is. Above all, the most important part of this is that he does it with great poise. The character of Nathaniel was especially effective because of flashbacks to his childhood and the development of his disorder. It is not made entirely clear when it began, but seeing it happen was actually quite frightening. There were scenes with Nathaniel in a large room filled with other people and they would all suddenly be gone, and the voices would come. Hearing his hallucinations gave the film a different edge than it would have otherwise had.

The musical element of the film should be very attractive to musicians. All Nathaniel lives for is his music. He claims to have chosen to live on the streets and is very reluctant to be in an apartment partly because he feels like inside he can't play.

He says he needs the sounds of the city and describes the birds flying as applause. Even though there were deeper reasons for his reluctance, he is still truly in love with his music. In the film, an elderly woman donates her cello to him after reading the first article about him. She apparently played it for fifty years, but later developed arthritis and wanted him to have it; it was very heart-warming.

The only major problem with the movie is that all its good features are just good. That might sound weird, but nothing about it was particularly excellent. The cinematography had nothing to complain or rave about, and the message was adequate. The characters were the most interesting part of the film and even they could have gone slightly deeper. The movie does give enough to stand on its own, but, as a drama, it falls behind a lot of other great titles.

Movie Grade: B+

Synopsis:

Journalist Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) discovers Nathaniel Anthony Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a former classical music prodigy, playing his violin on the streets of L.A. As Lopez endeavors to help the homeless man find his way back, a unique friendship is formed, one that transforms both their lives.