Soloist, The

Year: 2009

Genres: Drama

Directed by: Joe Wright

Written by: Susannah Grant

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr., Catherine Keener, Tom Holler, Lisa Gay Hamilton

Company: DreamWorks Pictures (Paramount) | Runtime: 105 minutes | Soloist, The on IMDB

In The Soloist, an emotionally soaring drama about the redemptive power of music, journalist Steve Lopez discovers Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, a former classical music prodigy, playing his violin on the streets of L.A. As Lopez endeavors to help the homeless man find his way back, a unique friendship is formed, one that transforms both their lives. (Paramount)

Soloist, The trailer

Tasha Robinson

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

The result feels cluttered, overcooked, and underfelt.

Jay H.

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

I despise these artsy fartsy pretentious films that go overboard on style and light on substance. It's overdone, overrated, overacted, overlong and after thirty minutes was over this glossy rubbish.

Ella Taylor

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

Foxx and Downey's disciplined duet come close to redeeming The Soloist from its visual excesses, but Wright leaves us with a parting shot of the dancing homeless that shamelessly exploits the very people he means to champion.

Dan Jolin

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

Intelligent and uncompromising, with knock-out performances from Downey Jr. and Foxx.

B E

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

I thought this was a wonderful movie, especially for those that love classical music, as well as those that have loves ones fighting mental illness. If you're just interested in the movie because of Jamie Foxx, you will probably be disappointed because it is so different than his previous work. I really enjoyed the movie. God Bless you Mr. Ayers!

Joe Morgenstern

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

Mr. Wright and his colleagues have made a movie with a spaciousness of its own, a brave willingness to explore such mysteries of the mind and heart as the torture that madness can inflict, and the rapture that music can confer. Bravo to all concerned.

Kirk Honeycutt

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx are on fire in the lead roles: They're both charismatic as hell without sacrificing any of the emotional honesty necessary for you to believe that these movie stars are a scruffy reporter and a mentally ill musician.

Ann S

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

You will laugh, maybe cry and it will make you smile. But there is no way you can't feel sympathy for Nathaniel or Steve in this movie. This movie is really poweful, and the fact that this is from a true story make it more interesting.

Rob Calvert

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

The Soloist is based upon a true story, so it lacks some of the clichs that you might find in other made-up tales.

Marjorie Baumgarten

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

With all the hallmarks of a prestige picture, chief among them a great cast and creative crew and an "important" message, The Soloist plays its tune with a frequently heavy hand.

Lawrence Toppman

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

The Soloist does have the courage to be true to the real Ayers' fate at last, after the exaggerations end. And the smart, hard-working Foxx and Downey ensure that their scenes all stay grittily honest.

Kid A

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

I must have watched a different movie from all these critics. This was one of the most beautiful, emotionally moving movies that I've ever seen. Unless you're an emotionless, soul-less shell of a human being, I give this my highest recommendation.

Liam Lacey

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

As a drama, The Soloist is stuck before it starts.

David Edelstein

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

The movie is a noble enterprise, and Downey is stupendous as usual, but Joe Wright's direction is too slick to elicit much feeling.

Ming V.

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

Turgid, chaotic, tedious. I do not even find Foxx's acting anything decent as well, just like a kid playing a mental illness person. It is supposed to be a film about a music genius however the use of music is nowhere near ingenious.

Julie S

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

This is such a beautiful film, Downey performance is always incredibly nuanced and I just enjoy the creativity that he brings to each role. Foxx was good too, i thought he was gonna over act his role but he did it amazing.

Owen Gleiberman

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

It's all a bit shapeless, yet made with sincerity and taste, and the two actors seize your sympathy.

Shawn Levy

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

You can't help but feel a connection to Downey and Foxx and, to a lesser degree, a rooting interest in the story. But try as Wright might, he never figures out a way to bring us in -- much less manipulate us -- cinematically.

Todd McCarthy

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

Has moments of power and imagination, but the overworked style and heavy socially conscious bent exude an off-putting sense of self-importance, making for a picture that's more of a chore than a pleasure to sit through.

Carrie Rickey

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

The tone of The Soloist is wildly uneven. Though unsparing and unsentimental when framing the principals, Wright is hyperbolic when depicting the agitation of the mentally ill and the soothing rapture of music.

Kenneth Turan

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

By consistently and relentlessly overplaying everything, by settling for standard easy emotions when singular and heartfelt was called for, by pushing forward when they should have pulled back, director Joe Wright and screenwriter Susannah Grant have made the story mean less, not more. Instead of enhancing The Soloist's appeal, they have come close to eliminating it.

Perry Seibert

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

This kind of movie quickly falls apart if the actors overplay the inherent sadness of the situation, and thankfully the stellar cast never makes that mistake.

Dia C

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

I knew nothing about this film before I saw it, so it caught me completely off guard and, quite unexpectedly, moved me deeply. Brilliantly understated acting by both Foxx and Downey complemented some truly extroardinary scenes of homeless life in LA that delivered a punch to my solar plexus like Dante's Inferno. Every scene in the film rang true, INCLUDING (although those with less experience with the mentally ill might disagree) the scenes in which Nathaniel was suddenly less than gracious. At the end, I was left with a feeling that although the story might revolve around Ayers, the true journey it depicts is actually that of Steve Lopez and his awakening from a bitter, sardonic anything-for-a-story newspaperman to a kinder, more sensitive human being with a solid awareness regarding the plight of hundreds of thousands of Americans. Outstanding work! I definitely look forward to reading the book.

Edward K

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

An entertaining and moving film. Not a masterpiece, but a solid piece of filmmaking, with credible performances by Downey and Foxx.

Kevin V.

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

Downey Jr. is excellent, and the story is interesting, but The Soloist is plagued by excessive cliques and an overall lack of purpose. It's a shame to see such a great cast go to waste.

Connie Ogle

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

Downey gives a nervy, riveting performance in The Soloist.

John H

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

A bad script and worse direction (in fact pretty dreadful direction) does this film in. True stories can make for uneven movie experiences that leave script writers and directors trying to hammer square pegs into round holes and audiences scratching their heads and wondering where the closure went. Because of these potential cinematic minefields having the right touch becomes vitally important. This movie has a sort of 1940s touch (think Oliva de Haviland in The Snake Pit for example) with the result that some interesting performances- especially Robert Downey Jr.s- end up pretty much wasted. There are two especially jarring scenes in the film that are so badly handled as to be frankly laughable/unintentionally comic; Jamie Foxx going berserk at his concert debut and (even more unforgivably) the scene where Foxx violently assaults Robert Downey Jr. (think Joan Crawford in Berserk). The script ludicrously has Downey shrug off the attack a couple of scenes later as an understandable disagreement between friends. In reality the scene is so badly handled that the films message rapidly morphs into (or possibly comes out of the closet as ) Yikes !! Better stay away from crazy homeless people!!!. a none-too-subtle subtext that has been quietly percolating through much of the film. In fact homeless characters often seem to be more like extras from some Hammer Production starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing than real people: think House of Dracula, The Mummy, and Brides of Dracula, one waits in vain for Elsa Lanchester to step out of a doorway and slip into the House of Wax. Even by Hallmark Hall of Fame standards this is pretty thin and heavy handed stuff; a kind of tour bus ride through Desolation Row that gets you back to your Ramada Inn in time for Happy Hour. All in all both the director and script writer seem to be very much out of their depth here; Shine was a excellent example of how to deal deftly and sensitively with many of the same themes and issues that The Soloist mangles quite inexcusably.

Michael Phillips

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

This is the story of a complicated and fraught friendship, and I'm not sure Wright and his collaborators figured out how much Hollywood baloney and how much naturalistic grunge to apply to it.

James Berardinelli

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

The problem with The Soloist is that, while Wright shows admirable restraint in dramatizing the interaction between the two principals and does not fall into the trap of following a "movie of the week" formula about mental illness, there is little emotional resonance in the story.

Vince M

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

Depressing, slow, repetitive, depressing. I didn't find it inspiring, I guess I should have seen another movie. But thought I'd counterbalance the accolades. 9 or 10? Nope.

k S.

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

Deeply moving film, made more so by knowing Downey's life story, so as a background to what we watch, we know that the actor had to face comparably difficult inner demons. Very strong performances.

picasa Goya

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

I feel that I would have appreciated this movie much more had I been more appreciative of the Music-Color Vibrations you almost were required to understand to fully get the most of the movie and the artistic genius Mr Foxx's character portrayed.

Enrique

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

Very well conceived cinematographically. Superb acting. A moving, thought provoking film.

Lan B

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

Highly enjoyable.

Andy C.

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

I think is this movie is such a moving film, i don't know why critics don't think is a masterpiece. Just because they didn't like how the director shoot it?

Chris Kaltenbach

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

Foxx is magnificent, taking a role that could be exorbitantly showy (actors playing the mentally disabled tend to forget the word "restraint") and turning in a performance that's controlled and mesmerizing.

Peter Travers

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

In the end, The Soloist isn't about BIG MOMENTS, it's about the grace notes, the kind that stay with you.

Jimbob M

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

Boring crap. Just wanted it to end.

Ryan S

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

A very sad movie about a schizophrenic musician and the reporter who writes about him. Seems quite authentic and the acting is great.

Mick LaSalle

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

For all its sensitivity to the horrors of mental illness, The Soloist ends up as a fairly canned piece of work.