The Soloist in all of us- an unreview

It could have been called “The Cellist”, “The Musician” or a number of other names that hold musical undertones, but instead they called it “The Soloist.” That particular fact is what is most interesting to me given that going into the movie the name didn’t exactly captivate me. However, coming out of the movie I felt that the name fully embodied the spirit of the movie in 10 simple characters.

Director Joe Wright brings us into the life of LA Times Columnist Steve Lopez (Robert Downey, Jr.) as he finds himself disenamored with the life he is living. His marriage has fallen apart and he is increasingly losing the passion that he once felt for his craft. By chance, Lopez meets Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a down-on-his-luck Juilliard drop-out as he serenades a Beethoven statue with a two-string violin. The story develops as Lopez attempts to help Ayers and ends up being transformed by the experience himself.

What’s in a name … ?

It’s very easy to look on the surface of things. To read “The Soloist” and think to oneself, “Oh that’s about a dude who plays an instrument by himself,” and while you wouldn’t necessarily be wrong, you would be (in my opinion) missing out on the depth of the film.

The characters are soloists, in that they are in places where they are alone both physically and in the way that they see the world.

Lopez (Downey, Jr.) has pushed his wife out of his life and is not quite sure how. He finds the newspaper industry transforming around him,  leaving him behind as he struggles to find passion in succumbing to writing about second-rate stories that serve no real purpose.

Ayers (Foxx) is alone and homeless. He’s pushed his only living relative out of his life and now lives and sleeps on the same streets that often serve as his concert hall. He refuses to seek any form of permanent housing and has a conflicting relationship with God – at times reciting the Lords Prayer and others denouncing his faith. What’s most compelling about the Ayers character is in the way that he sees the world: not always lucid, during many instances Ayers sees the world as it is not and never has been. Yet the world seems much clearer when accompanied by the melodic notes of his Cello. Ayers closes his eyes and sees/feels life and the love of music in a way that Lopez has admittedly not felt with anything. It’s almost as though Ayers is performing for a universal concert hall unfettered by the walls of home or residence every time his fingers run across his strings. Always dressed for a performance, his style of dress with bright colored hats and a cape closely parallels his abilities and responsibilities as the man who brings musical solace to otherwise broken streets.

We can all relate some how – we have all been Soloists in the Sonata of Life in D Minor at some point.