Synopsis:
A Los
Angeles Journalist, befriends a homeless
Julliard trained musician, while looking for a
new article for the paper.
The Freak's
Rating: C+ : Have you ever seen a
homeless person and wondered what their story
was? It seems most of us assume the
homeless are lazy and unwilling to work,
pretending we don't see them and avoiding eye
contact as we drive by. What if they had
mental issues that have gone untreated long
enough to put them down this path? What if
they are so far down the path that there simply
isn't a way for them to return? If you
knew this, would you help them or at least feel
sad for them?
The
first "must see" drama of the year, The Soloist
appears to have everything going for it.
Based upon a true story, the film tells the tale
of an unlikely pair of friends in a journalist
and a homeless musician. Robert Downey Jr
gives one of his best performances as Steve
Lopez, a columnist who finds an improbable muse
in Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx). After a
chance encounter with Nathaniel and some
reporting, Lopez discovers that not only is
Nathaniel a talented musician, but is in fact
one of the best ever to attend the elite Juliard
academy of music. Determined to help
Nathaniel get back on the right track, Lopez
does his best to help in every way possible,
some too intrusive for Nathaniel to handle.
Having directed one of the biggest
dissapointments in my recent memory in Atonement,
director Joe Wright has me nervous every time I
see his name scroll across the screen before a
film starts. Wright would have another
bomb on his hands had Robert Downey Jr not
headlined the cast. Direction is lavish
and overdone in a number of moments. In
one scene, a psychadelic attempt at relating the
audience to what someone else might feel while
listening to music goes on about 30 seconds too
long and loses all its lustre. In another,
Downey's character has an emotional breakthrough
that is so poorly developed it has zero punch
and effectiveness. Wright does succeed in
blending the possibility of a link between being
homeless and mentally ill into the storyline
without becoming a "down your throat"
message-heavy film.
The
Soloist has all the makings of a Best Actor
picture and it would be a shame if it didn't fit
the bill come next March. Robert Downey
Jr.'s performance is one of the best of his
career. It is truly astounding to witness.
I am blown away time and time again when I see
this man act. Like last year's Doubt,
The Soloist is worthy of seeing just to see good
acting. Unlike Doubt,
The Soloist has little beyond the acting to
merit a viewing. Foxx is decent, but is
being praised far too much in the mainstream
media if you ask me. He appears to be
channeling an odd mix between Dustin Hoffman's
character in Rain Man and Giovanni Ribisi in The
Other Sister. His performance is glaringly
unoriginal. Downey's performance is the
best thing here and not nominating him for it
would be a major oversight by the Academy.
Robin's Rating: C : I too liked the theme of the story. I still wonder what the significance of the bike accident in the beginning had to do with the story and overall it moved so slowly. John lost interest immediately, but my heart always pours into a good storyline and the awareness of the homeless people with mentally disabilities, touches me and makes me appreciate all that I have been given.
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