2009 Review #24: The Soloist

The Soloist

Rated PG-13

1 hour 57 minutes

Storyline:

A Los Angeles Journalist, befriends a homeless Julliard trained musician, while looking for a new article for the paper.

Starring:

Robert Downey Jr.

Jamie Foxx

Critics Grade:
C

My Grade:
C+

The Soloist is not a perfect film. It is definitely one of those movies that you can tell was maybe trying to score itself some Oscar nominations. It's one of those movies that supposed to tug on the strings of your heart and inspire you. It's one of those movies that's carried by very strong lead performances. But it's also one of those movies that really, really good...but kind of misses on some of the emotional points.

Starting with the good. I thought it told a really moving tale about a journalist who befriends a homeless man who has a truly beautiful musical gift. The story is of their growing friendship as the journalist tries to give this man help, both emotional and medical, even though the homeless man just wants a friend. He's comfortable where he is, he likes living on the streets. He takes a strong liking to the journalist, and at one point calls him his God. Keep in mind, this homeless man isn't right in the head. We see the progression of his mental breakdown through flashbacks to his earlier life. He is probably a schizophrenic, but we never really find out. But one thing is certain: he can play the violin and cello masterfully. This is a man who went to Julliard for two years and is now on the streets.

The story/screenplay was told quite well I thought. It kept me focused the whole time and I never really got bored at any one point in the movie. I thought it really captured well, the heart of true friendship and why we as people need friends in our lives. It's said that true friendship could ease ones mental pains, and that's showcased in this film. I've even experienced that in my own life. This man has a talent, but he doesn't care. He just wants to play. The journalist doesn't quite understand that. He can't figure out why he doesn't want help, why he wants to stay on the streets. But he stays his friend anyway, and I thought that aspect of the story was told very well.

What was missing was background. We see many flashes into Nathaniel's (the homeless man) life, but we never see how and why this all started. I understand this is something he was probably born with, but we never truly saw how this affected his family or really even him at a young age. He just snaps, drops out of Julliard, and runs away. It seemed like his sister never even bothered to look for him or even cared. His background was missing a lot of emotional depth and it was hard to really feel for this guy. I understood his situation and I felt bad for him, but I wasn't emotionally connected to this guy...and he's supposed to be the main character. Same goes for Steve Lopez (the journalist). We get virtually no insight into his life. He's actually a bit one dimensional throughout the whole film. We don't really know what drove him to befriend this guy in the first place. We are told he has a son in college and his ex-wife is also someone who works with him at the paper. But we never get to much information about why that part of his life went south. Again, it was just weak back story and very difficult to connect with this guys motives.

For me it lacked a lot of emotional depth. Mainly due to that back story issue. This has the potential of being a really poignant story, but it missed so much. The over lining story of their friendship was told very well, and I was very into it, but the deeper part of the story lacked a lot. There was virtually no real heart to this story and by the end you feel kind of empty and have this "yeah so what" mentality, at least I did. I got the message in the end, and it was a good one. But when the credits rolled I was immediately disconnected. I don't know, I guess it's kind of hard to explain. Also, I was confused by how this movie wanted us to feel and where we were supposed to direct our emotions. It tried to be two things: a movie about a mentally disabled homeless man that has a gift and also a movie about the man's beautiful gift and his struggles to use that gift. I feel like they were trying to get to much emotional pull into the movie, and so it kind of just flopped in that regard and you end up not feeling much of anything. I think there was to much focus here.

The performances were excellent however! Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder, Iron Man) has really emerged as a fantastic actor. He had an incredible year last year, and this guy is just getting better and better. He can really carry a film, and he is really likable in most of the roles he does, including this one. He won't get any award attention here, because it's not really an award worthy performance, but he's still very very good. Oscar winner Jamie Foxx (Ray, Collateral) for the most part was really good in this movie. However there were a few scenes where you can tell he thinks he's an amazing actor. There's just a few scenes where he totally overacts and tries to do way to much with a scene that could have been toned down. There are portions of his performance that are actually quite bad, but for the most part he does do an pretty darn good job.

The Soloist is a good movie. It's a solid movie. Even though it lacks some real feeling and leaves you feeling kind of empty. But there's still a lot to it, and theres a lot of good to it. This is kind of an inspirational film. Like I said, not an phenomenal movie, but it's definitely worth watching if you are into this type of dramatic film.