MESSAGE IN THE MOVIES

The Soloist Rated PG-13

Directed by Joe Wright.  Starring Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey, Jr.



Photo © Dreamworks/Paramount
Movie Review by Rev. Bruce Batchelor Glader

The Soloist is a film about music that can’t quite decide on which tune to play. 

Based on the true story of Steve Lopez (Downey, Jr.), a newspaper columnist who discovers Nathaniel Ayers (Foxx), a musical genius living on the streets of Los Angeles and coping with mental illness.  Playing Beethoven on a violin with two strings, Ayers demonstrates extraordinary skill with the instrument, although socially reluctant to even look Lopez in the eyes.

The reporter discovers that Ayers grew up in Cleveland and, after winning entrance to Julliard, was unable to cope with the demands of disciplined study.  As Lopez uses Ayers as the basis of a series of columns, he also attempts to give him a chance for a comeback.  Alas, such things are not meant to be. 

The Soloist could have been a bittersweet meditation on friendship and the limitations of projecting our hopes and dreams on another person.  And, in the great performances by Foxx and Downey, Jr., there was real potential.  But the overwrought direction of Joe Wright (which includes no fewer than three pretentious set pieces of cinematic flight) turns the dial up to 11 and overpowers the simple story, eventually making even the musical performances headache-inducing. 

I suggest that you pick up Lopez’ book and read the remarkable story for yourself.

Pitchfork Rating:
Four halos (A genuinely interesting and heartfelt story gets lost in an unfocused and often irritating film treatment.) One pitchfork (Occasional swearing and drug use.]

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