In The Soloist, sardonic divorced journalist Steve Lopez (Downey Jr.) is searching for his next story. He happens upon homeless savant Nathaniel Ayres (Foxx), playing a two-stringed violin and babbling about Beethoven and his Julliard classmates. Lopez, smelling a potential human-interest piece, delves deeper, learning that Ayres was a child prodigy cellist whose battle with schizophrenia forced him to abandon his dreams.
Foxx’s role fits the formula for an Oscar-nominated performance, and both his and Downey’s work in the film is superb. The real shortcomings of The Soloist lie in the melodramatic cinematography and myopic script. Scenes that attempt to express the uplifting power of music seem overwrought.
Furthermore, the film lacks a cohesive narrative focus. What purports to be an autobiographical tale of a tortured genius is in fact a commentary on the decline of print media, an expose of Los Angeles’ seedy underbelly, an inquiry into the politics of mental illness and a meditation on the ethic responsibility of a journalist to his subject, all rolled into one.
None of these themes is fully developed and the film’s attempt to explore social issues hampers it from adequately fleshing out the relationship between two complex characters. Though it could have made a great film, The Soloist suffers in the hands of a poorly chosen movie-making team.
