I’m not going to lie…
I was a little nervous walking into THE SOLOIST. I didn’t know too much about the movie but I DID know that I DON’T know ANYTHING about music. I am the least musical person I know. When I walked into the theater and saw a live symphony/orchestra playing, I broke into a sweat wondering how in the world I was going to understand or even like a movie about a musician, not to mention write a review about it!
Knowing about musical instruments, music notes, or Beethoven is not a prerequisite to see THE SOLOIST. Enjoying a heart-wrenchingly amazing and beautiful story however, is.
The movie grabs your attention right from the get go. Robert Downey Jr. is LA TIMES reporter Steve Lopez. While wandering around the city, he hears a violin being played. Apparently it’s not everyday you hear a random violin playing beautifully in the middle of LA. Cue Jamie Foxx as Nathaniel Anthony Ayers. From here on, they begin a tumultuous friendship full of laughable ups and tearful downs. Meeting Nathaniel changes Steve and it’s remarkable to see that develop throughout the movie.
There is so much more to the movie than a homeless man playing a violin and a journalist writing columns about it. The fact that this is a true story, minus that fact that the REAL Steve Lopez is in fact a happily married man, makes it so much more REAL. To watch how an amazingly gifted little boy goes from playing the cello in the basement of his mama’s beauty parlor to being one of the first black students on scholarship at Julliard is one thing; to witness him spiral downward fighting mental illness and end up spending decades wandering the harsh streets of LA homeless will render even the most critical and heartless movie goers speechless -- unless of course, they don’t have a soul.
Jamie Fox and Robert Downey, Jr.
in THE SOLOIST (Courtesy Paramount Pictures)
This movie brings much needed attention to the homeless. It is absolutely mortifying to know people REALLY DO live this way -- it shocked me. I’ll admit, I’m overly sheltered but it’s heartbreaking to see the way these people live -- and I’m not talking about the drug-users and punks that run away and smoke dope and shoot up in the alleys, but rather those few lost souls out there that really do have serious problems that inevitably cost them everything.
THE SOLOIST is very deserving of a multitude of awards. Downey and Foxx -- Foxx especially -- will most certainly get some Oscar run for their performances. I highly recommend this movie to everyone regardless of age and personal interests. It inspires and makes you glance a second time at that homeless man under the bridge, wondering just what happened that took everything he had.
