A true look at a heartbreaking disease...

Rating: 8/10 (7 November 2009)

The Soloist was a movie I had an inkling I would really like. And, as it turned out, I did. This was in no small part to the great performances the two leads, Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. Of course, the direction by Joe Wright (Atonement) was wonderful.
Based on a true story, Downey plays New York Times columnist, Steve Lopez, who in the search for a juicy story, comes across a homeless guy (Jamie Foxx) playing a violin in the park. The guy tells him that his name is Nathaniel Ayers and he used to be in Juliard. Lopez sees the possibility of a juicy story and decides to follow it up. Over the next few months, the movie traces how their relationship grows from merely one of a reporter and his subject to that of two men genuinely growing to be friends and caring for each other. Lopez, though always uncomfortable at Ayers placing too much of trust and affection in him, realizes that he too cares for him and tries all he can to help him out.
What marks the movie out are the way Foxx's characters dementia is handled and shown, as well as the bond between the two men. It seems so rare these days in Hollywood to see a true story of friendship and love between two guys in a totally non-Brokeback way. One of the few I do remember is that modern classic, The Shawshank Redemption. In the end, the movie is honest in portraying Ayer's condition, but at the same time, hopeful of the changes that love and friendship can bring about.