Did I care? Not really.

Rating: 7/10 (30 September 2009)

Journalist Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr) happens upon down-and-out Nathaniel Ayres (Jamie Foxx) and discovers he is a superb cellist who has dropped out of society due to schizophrenia. In pursuit of a story, Lopez ends up befriending the hapless Nathaniel.
This movie is essentially Rain Man with a cello. Downey plays the Cruise role of someone who starts off as, essentially, an unlikeable man with only his own interests at heart, but who becomes a more compassionate and caring person as a matter of necessity. Foxx plays the Hoffman role of someone who (ironically) would have been referred to by Downey's Tropic Thunder character as "full retard." The story is always interesting, although it is a little unsatisfying in that there is no formal resolution - a closing voice-over and titles inform us that Nathaniel is still just as mentally precarious as ever.
This is Downey's film - the Lopez character has a satisfying development arc. Conversely, while Foxx does well in delivering Nathaniel's speech patterns and sometimes there, sometimes not attitudes, the character doesn't change and is difficult to feel sympathy for.
And that is a flaw which lies at the heart of this movie. Despite the fact that it holds your interest, it is difficult to care. I should have cared but, come the end, I discovered that I didn't.