Steve Lopez (Robert Downey, Jr.) is a Los Angeles Times reporter who is stuck in a rut, when he meets Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a one time Julliard music prodigy who is now homeless and playing a two stringed violin in a park. Lopez is immediately intrigued by Ayers, writes an article about him, gains some notoriety for him, and ultimately tries to help the troubled but clearly gifted musician re-integrate back into society. The main obstacle is Ayers himself, a schizophrenic whose mental illness has gone untreated for decades, and who doesn’t seem to want to be helped.
This had all the makings of a solid drama; an interesting (true) story starring two of the best actors working today. I remember seeing the trailer for this a while back, and thinking, “Hum… that should be good.” Then… I heard nothing more about it. Several months passed, and the next thing I know, it’s on DVD. Huh? Did I miss something? I thought this movie had “Oscar Bait” written all over it? What happened?
Well, after finally checking it out, I think I might have an idea; despite the story’s potential, despite the strong leading actors, “The Soloist”, ultimately, just isn’t very good. As I stated, all the ingredients are there, but the film just ultimately falls flat. It gets off to a strong start with Robert Downey, Jr. doing his typical dry, sarcastic Robert Downey, Jr. thing and doing it well. When we first meet him in the story, he’s a jerk. An entertaining and vaguely likeable jerk, but a jerk nonetheless. However, when he becomes involved in Ayers, he changes. Helping Ayers has given him a purpose, and we see some humanity emerge from his character. Downey handles the change admirably and delivers another fine performance.
Jamie Foxx, as Ayers, is also very impressive. He has all the ticks and quirks and mannerisms of a crazy street person down pat (going to college in downtown St. Augustine, I got to know the type). He and Downey play off each other well, and I did get a sense of the bond that developed between the two characters by the end of the film. However, despite the great performances on display, I remained, for the most part, curiously unmoved by the story. I can’t say why, but I was just never really pulled into it. Perhaps it was something about Susannah Grant’s script that kept me at a distance from these people, I’m not sure, but I do know I was never truly invested in the characters or what was going on the way I thought I should be, and when all was said and done, I just didn’t give a damn.
Surely, the desired effect wasn’t to have no effect. Surely I was supposed to, by the end of this, feel something for the characters, or the plight of the homeless, or… something… anything… but, nope. Didn’t happen.
Strangely, this is how I reacted to director Joe Wright’s previous film, the much lauded, Oscar Nominated (and supremely over-rated) “Atonement”. Like this film, that one had an intriguing premise, good performances, was technically well made with beautiful photography… but story wise it just dropped dead in the second act and never recovered. Sadly the same goes for “The Soloist”. I was with it at first, but gradually I just lost interest and lost interest and by the final third of the movie, it just became a real chore for me to watch.
I looked at some reviews on-line after finishing this film and found, to my surprise, many critics heaping a ton of praise on it. Giving it four and five star reviews and calling it things like “an overlooked gem!” So, much like with my assessment of “Atonement”, I appear to be in the minority on this one. I can’t explain it. Maybe I have some inexplicable bias against all films directed by Joe Wright, or maybe, like Nathaniel Ayers, I’m just crazy.
