Director: Joe Wright
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jamie Foxx & Catherine Keener
An entertaining drama/biopic that develops a touching relationship between two loners made all the more enjoyable by the performances of Downey Jr. and Foxx.
Originally meant to be released a year before but delayed until 2009 causing the film to miss the deadline to considered for Oscar consideration and then, once released in the US, to fail to achieve much success at the Box Office, The Soloist, an American set film from Joe Wright, the British director of Atonement and Pride & Prejudice finally sees its UK release. Despite any concerns that delays and Box Office failure could have been a statement upon the film’s quality, the film itself is actually a well performed and touching drama featuring some strong performances from Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx.
Looking for a story with which to focus his latest column upon, newspaper reporter Steve Lopez (Downey Jr.) happens upon a homeless man playing the violin beneath a statue of Beethoven. The musician, named Nathaniel Ayers (Foxx) demonstrates talent despite his appearance and the state of his violin and amongst his babbling, revealing some mental instability, mentions having studied at the prestigious Juilliard Academy. Seeing a strong human interest story in how a talented musician could ever end up living on the streets of Los Angeles, Lopez reaches out to Ayers, looking into his past and bringing him into contact with a group for the homeless named LAMP but finds that, despite his best attempts, he is unable to cure Ayer’s mental problems but instead finds his friendship with Ayers to be more beneficial to Ayer’s life.
Based on the true story of Steve Lopez and Nathaniel Ayers and from the book Lopez wrote about their friendship, The Soloist has the added feeling of authenticity in spite of the few liberties the filmmakers make with the events that occur between these two men. While the friendship between Ayers and Lopez was not as life-changing for Lopez as the film attempts to portray, the friendship between the two is still genuine and the film does a convincing job of portraying that. The life of Ayers from his slow mental breakdown to the small progressions he makes once he encounters Lopez and is introduced to LAMP is also believably portrayed thanks to a strong performance from Foxx who spent time with Ayers and is also experienced in music himself. Impressively shot across various Los Angeles locations which makes the city an important participant in the film’s atmosphere, particular the neighbourhoods along Skid Row where the homeless and drug addicted congregate and where LAMP can be found and with Joe Wright also casting actual LAMP community member s and members of the Los Angeles homeless community as themselves, there is often the feeling throughout that the live of Ayers and others like him on the screen are real because most of them actually are. Joe Wright also brings in his fondness for sound effects in The Soloist as, where in Atonement the events were punctuated by the tap, tap, tap of a typewriter, we here hear the frequent stop, start and rewind of a tape recorder as Downey Jr. occasionally narrates as though Lopez is recounting the events as he prepares his columns for print.
With The Soloist focused on the relationship between two men, it was important to get the casting right for these parts and Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx are both excellent throughout. Downey Jr. whilst playing Lopez as rather more of a maverick than the character actually is, is still very enjoyable showing a man who has sympathy but is also driven by the need to have a story to tell whilst also being somewhat impatient and naïve about how much he would be able to influence Ayer’s life and social/psychological improvement. Downey Jr. is the actor who must drive the film and he does so with his usual amount of energy and charm. Jamie Foxx on the other hand gets to perform the far more complex role of Ayers having to be able to demonstrate the man’s talent and love for music but also the crippling nature of his schizophrenia and the gradual improvement in his condition as the film progresses. Foxx’s performance is impressive, feeling devoid of OTT flourishes that many an actor might be tempted into relying upon when playing such a character as Ayers. Not all of the casting though is as strong as Downey Jr. and Foxx. Tom Hollander is horribly miscast in a small role as an American music teacher with Hollander resorting to a poor American accent in the part and Catherine Keener plays her role as Lopez’ ex-wife as she does many other of her roles as emotionally unsympathetic.
Overall, The Soloist is an enjoyable drama with strong performances from Downey Jr. and Foxx and has more emotional impact given that it is based upon true events and in the director’s decision to film within the homeless communities of Los Angeles and casting actual members of the homeless community which gives the film the feeling of even more authenticity. Whilst sometimes prone to over-dramatising and featuring a few weak supporting cast members, The Soloist is still an enjoyable film.
Rating: 4/5
