The Soloist

Steve Lopez (Downey Jr.) is an LA journalist who hasn’t had a good story in a while. Scared of losing his job, and trying to appease his ex-wife and editor, he begins to get desperate. One day he comes across Nathaniel Ayers (Foxx), a homeless man on Skid Row who is playing a beautiful tune on a violin with only two strings. Lopez spots an opportunity to get his story and to help Ayers, who turns out to be an ex-Juilliard prodigy who dropped out because of his schizophrenia. The more these two troubled men learn about each other, the more both their lives are changed.

Based on a true story, The Soloist is not only a touching account of a friendship between two men from different worlds. It’s a film about the worlds of music and journalism, about mental illness and the way music can change a life. Director Joe Wright is more easily associated with British period dramas like Atonement, a world away from modern Los Angeles and the contrasting spheres of the freeway underpass where Ayers scratches a living and the Disney Concert Hall where he dreams of playing.

There aren’t a whole lot of answers to the questions The Soloist asks, and the film knows it. There’s no getting away from the difficult issues here, although the byplay between the two leads sugars the pill more than a little. Jamie Foxx, who appears to make a career out of playing disadvantaged musicians, turns in a particularly sterling performance in a film that’s not only thought-provoking but also uplifting.

Marcus Kelly