Well-acted yet familiar tale of genius and mental disease; Downey & Foxx are excellent

Rating: 7/10 (27 April 2009)

THE SOLOIST (2009) **1/2 Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey, Jr., Catherine Keener, Nelsan Ellis, Lisa Gay Hamilton. Well-acted yet middling drama based on fact about LA Times columnist Steve Lopez (Downey) who comes across a homeless man named Nathaniel Ayers (Foxx) who he learns was a one-time gifted musical prodigy whose bout with schizophrenia has caused his ongoing downward spiral. In spite some exemplary acting by the two leads in this Oscar-bait type of storytelling, ultimately the plot line's familiarity becomes a hindrance (based on Lopez' book and adapted tellingly by Susannah Grant's telling screenplay adaptation), and the results maddening, to say the least. (Dir: Joe Wright)