Aug 12 2009
The Soloist by Director Joe Wright starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.
Movie Hunger has another movie review. This moment I would like to talk about Director Joe Wright’s The Soloist starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.
Have you seen the movie? Did you enjoy it? What did you enjoy The Soloist for?
The Soloist is about Steve Lopez (actor Robert Downey Jr.) who becomes friends with a Julliard trained musician by the name of Nathaniel Ayers (actor Jamie Foxx). Steve Lopez wants to write a story about the life of Nathaniel Ayers for the Los Angeles Times because why would a talented musician like Nathaniel be living on the streets?
HollywoodChicago.com calls “The Soloist” a powerful story that was wasted and I have to agree with them. Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie an average of 50 percent and I suspect that was just because of the acting of movie star Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.
During the entire movie I was sitting there wondering where Director Joe Wright was going to go with the story. The movie trailers advertised it as this grand and movie story about a man and Joe Wright barely got an emotional simmer out of this movie viewer.
Was The Soloist a vehicle to teach people about the thousands of homeless people in Los Angeles who need psychological care? Did Director Joe Wright want The Soloist to be about friendship?
I don’t know if I can chalk it up to personally seeing the homeless in the streets of Los Angeles but it was not something that sparked emotion or movement in me as a movie viewer. I also agree with Rottentomatoes.com on the statement that the narrative focus just didn’t allow The Soloist to hit the mark.
I don’t blame Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx acting in The Soloist movie at all. Both movie stars were exceptional in their roles as Nathaniel Ayers and Steve Lopez.
I started watching The Soloist expecting Jamie Foxx to be perfection. Jamie Foxx has played life character rolls before with great ease so I was expecting him to do the same with this movie. Jamie Foxx did not disappoint with his role. The actor was able to express each fleeting moment of a man who has a mental illness and is dealing with voices in his head.
As Steve Lopez I was expecting Robert Downey Jr. to play this character as if he was Tony Stark in Ironman. That was definitely not the case here. Movie Star Robert Downey Jr. did an amazing job portraying a man lost and not knowing what to do in his new friendship. I think he portrayed many of the emotions that a person would feel uneducated about the mentally ill.
As a whole I would agree with RottenTomatoes.com and give The Soloist five stars. Don’t expect the grand storyline that the movie trailers promised you but definitely rent the Soloist on DVD for the performances of Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx.
