The Soloist





Director - Joe Wright

Genre - Biography/Drama/Music


A homeless person to most of us is like an unsightly moth which fly into our field of vision uninvited and unwelcome. How many of us actually ponder how these street dwellers come to be that way? Joe Wright who directed the wonderful 'Atonement' explores this forgotten colony by focusing the tale on one Nathaniel Ayers. A child prodigy of cello, Ayers seemed like a musical miracle waiting to ascend the starlit skies. Accepted to Juilliard and ready to take on the world, he is instead struck down by an imbalanced mind. Steve Lopez, the writer for Los Angeles Times just stumbles on Mr Ayers one fine afternoon and a friendship which empowers both of these opposites of society unfolds. Foxx has shown time and again that his talent in acting is no fluke. This is another film in which he literally embodies the character. Based on a true story.

4 STARS!

All about The Soloist

Comments

Zach Murphy said…
Good film, the acting in it is phenomenal, hope they both get some award recognition.

http://unfetteredtastes.blogspot.com/
Its a very good film. I m first time here at this blog. I never seen this before.
Univarn said…
I hate to have my first comment be a disagreement, but alas I don't hide my opinion well. I loved the acting, the characters, and by all accounts this film should have been oozing oscar... but I just couldn't get into it. I felt they spent too much time with the writer, the backstory was handled meh, and just when I started really feeling emotional the scenes would get cut and jump to the next life event (or cut to a series of random showings - like the doves during the practice performance, just let the actors act!).

Not a bad film by any marker, but I think it'll get overlooked come award time.
Anything Jamie Foxx does inevitably means fresh and out of the box for us. If the role was given to Denzel Washington or Samuel L.Jackson it might have been predictable.

Foxx brings with him a sense of spontaneity which usually color the performances of comedians who turn to serious acting. Will Smith has the same ability and pulling power. As you have said so yourself - you loved the acting...

Whether or not it garners any acknowledgment during awards season is immaterial to us. What matters to us is whether a film has the chutzpah in attempting to be all that it is meant to be. In this case, the film is a sincere work which tries to understand the mind of a schizophrenic vagrant. The thoughts of an individual like that would understandably be random, thus explains the random scenes you brought up.

The writer was his only connection to having a real friendship. He was the only person who looked at him as a talented musician and a valuable human being at that point. Therefore, we do not see why you wouldn't want equal time spent on the writer.

Anyway, we appreciate your comment very much. Muchos gracias. :)
edgarchaput said…
I also very much enjoyed the film. It took some chances by being a tad a darker than a lot of movies like this. The movie was mostly overlooked (it came out 1 pathetic week before the summer's blockbusters were released), but I think Foxx and Downwy Jr. give some of my favourite performances of theirs.

I also really dug the Fantasia-esque graphics when Nathaniel listens to an orchestra play in a concert hall.
Besides enjoyment, we have a whole new perspective on the plight of the homeless when watching this film. It took a very brave soul to go up and befriend someone like that.

The writer brought home the fact that these homeless souls are not just statistics. They have problems just like everybody else. The sad thing is, their problems might be ten-fold compared to ours. Underneath all that filth and insanity associated with being homeless, they are simply poor souls who have lost their way.
edgarchaput said…
I agree whole heartedly. It was quite interesting to see the sequences that featured heards of homeless people. That's kind of what I meant when saying the movie is a bit darker than most. It didn't shy away from displaying the depressing reality far too many people have to live through.