The Other Side of the American Dream

Rating: 6/10 (1 April 2010)

In Los Angeles, the reporter of the LA Times Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) writes the successful column Points West. After an accident with his bicycle, Steve wanders on the streets and hears a classic music being played by a homeless violinist with an out of commission violin. Steve starts a conversation with the musician fan of Beethoven Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Jr. (Jamie Foxx) and when the man tells him that he had studied cello in Juilliard, Steve researches his life and writes a series of articles in his column about the talented but mentally ill musician. He befriends the schizophrenic Nathaniel and brings him to the Lamp Community in Los Angeles. The work of Steve Lopez is awarded and he attempts to help the musician, but in his insanity, Nathaniel does not want to change his lifestyle.
"The Soloist" is apparently based on a true story of a relationship of a journalist and a schizophrenic musician and discloses the other side of the American Dream in Los Angeles with 90,000 homeless people. In this regard, this film uses a different approach of Wim Wenders' "Land of Plenty" to slightly show the reality of homeless people in Los Angeles. The problem is that apparently the columnist wrote articles and was awarded, and wrote a book that became a movie, probably making lots of money, while Nathaniel Ayers Jr. is still on the streets and sleeping in a shelter. Please excuse me if I am unfair, but the film does not show a great effort from Steve Lopez to hire a psychologist to help Nathaniel to improve his life. Further, the screenplay is cold despite the choice of two excellent actors in the lead roles. The music score with Beethoven and Bach is a plus in this deceptive film. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "O Solista" ("The Soloist")