The Soloist Review

It seems like many people have their reasons for disliking this movie or being disappointed in it. I may be in the minority but I like heartwarming and sensitive stories that some people find sappy. I found this film touching and memorable. Certainly, it is only one story out of 90,000 stories that could have been told about homeless people living on the streets in Los Angeles. This movie made me question my own bias. Whenever a movie encourages me to think more deeply about my own value system I have to applaud it. It is a story about flawed people who have passion. One person’s passion seems to have become somewhat complacent and is redirected while the other person’s passion has never wavered. One person appears to be the teacher but in the end learns a great deal from the unlikely student. The relationship between journalist Steve Lopez and Nathaniel Ayers at first seems purely for the benefit of Lopez to write a story that will rejuvenate his lackluster career, but his story about a homeless man once having been a Julliard student incurs interest from readers and soon the story and the man, Nathaniel, become his pet project. Lopez and the audience learn lessons along the way about trying to help people who may not even want our help. The acting is incredible with Jamie Foxx as the schizophrenic Nathaniel and Robert Downey Jr. as the journalist. To me this was more than a movie about the homeless or the mentally ill but a film about authentic friendship which holds no lists of rights and wrongs.