Master cast. Admirable characters, True story, real characters, so lots of acting courage, but not so much inspirational...

Rating: 7/10 (25 April 2009)

MAJOR SPOILERS!!! Is the writing spot-on? Yes. Is the acting performed by very likable masters of the art, and with great skill? Yes. Is the story worth telling? Probably. Is this one of those uplifting and light filled movies of redemption? Erm... not so much. It is based on a true story, and life isn't always so pretty. This movie is NOT pretty! The trailers implied there would be beautiful music, and the beauty of the music and the very act of learning (once again) to re-create it would save a soul. Again, not so much. Nathaniel Ayres Jr. is/was a genuinely crazy man. Not cute. His personality and demeanour, on the surface, anyway, are marbled with profound humility and heartbreaking misfortune. One hopes, and because it's a movie, expects, him to be lifted out of it.
Again, the trailer has a voice-over of Steve Lopez, played with superb honesty and courage (because he is, alas, no miracle worker. He is only human, like the rest of us) has been greatly edited. His words about friendship, and the real-person/character of Ayres, end with something about "This friendship, in the end, takes you home." In the actual movie, you hear the whole paragraph, and it is, again, more ordinary, more human.
Are the people in this movie admirable? Yes. Inspirational? Not so much.
Acting praise must go to Katherine Keener, Jamie Foxx, and Downey Jr. God, they are good.