Film Review : The Soloist

There are some things outside of the tale itself that you can take from this film.

Firstly, that three films into his career on the big screen suggests that Joe Wright is a seriously major talent that we can look forward to delivering terrific movies over many years to come.

Secondly, that sobriety suits Robert Downey Jr who continues a fine run of great performances in this movie as journalist Steve Lopez.

And finally, that Jamie Foxx is an astonishing actor who has the gift of inhabiting the characters that he plays. In a role where cliche and stereotype might hover uneasily in the background, he creates a powerful and affecting portrayal of a man of great talents who is also blighted by mental illness.

The story itself revolves around the relationship between journalist Lopez and his chance meeting with Nathaniel Ayers, played by Jamie Foxx. Lopez' attention is grabbed by Ayers playing some repetitive but haunting music on a two string violin, and subsequently includes him in his regular column in the LA Times.

As Lopez finds out more about Ayers past, the story moves into the ambiguity about the growing relationship - with growing interest in his abilities via the reports, where is the line that crosses over into exploitation? And are the efforts to help him going to help Nathaniel, or does he even welcome them?

The positive response to the stories in Lopez column generate additional interest in Ayers, and Lopez seeks to assist him in pursuing his undoubted talent for music - he dropped out of Julliard when his mental illness overtook during his second year of study, retreating from his family and living a life on the streets with his possessions (and his life) contained in a shopping basket.

The developing relationship between the two characters is the fulcrum around which the story relates. It has the potential to be too maudlin or sentimental but it avoids this by avoiding any suggestion that there are easy answers to dealing with Ayers condition, and by making clear the many frustrations faced by Lopez as he attempts to do what he sees as the best thing for his welfare.

This film has not done well in America but it's easy to see why. There are no nice and comfortable happy endings (although the film does resolve itself but in a less overt manner) and it shines an uncomfortable light on the plight of the homeless and disadvantaged in American society, although this is a point that's not overly laboured (and more powerful for that).

This picture is based on a real life and Ayers sister has established the Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation For The Gifted Mentally Ill. As you will see from the site, the story is a relatively recent one but no less powerful for that. I think the book on which the film is based beckons now.