On the heels of "State of Play," the roller-coaster ride of a film featuring an old-school newspaper reporter at the center of the story, comes another movie with a journalist - and the subject he is covering - as the main attraction.
"The Soloist" is not a thriller as was "State of Play," but it's a drama/character study based on a true story. It's based on Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez's book, "The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music." It's an apt title.
Joe Wright directs the film and is no stranger to the emotionally charged material that Lopez describes in his book. Wright's last effort was "Atonement," and while "The Soloist" doesn't have the devastating circumstances of that film, it delivers more than a few punches to the emotional gut.
Robert Downey Jr., last seen as the suave billionaire inventor/superhero in "Iron Man," continues to show his range and depth. It's a testament to his talents that after all of his well-publicized problems, studios and directors are more than willing to cast him in leading roles. He's too good an actor to be discounted because of personal turmoil.
Here, he is columnist Lopez. Lopez's life is not quite the shambles that Russell Crowe's was in "State of Play," but it's not even in the neighborhood of easy street. He's divorced from his wife, who is still his editor at the Times, he's had a face-smashing bicycle accident, is discontent with his job, and as played by Downey, one gets the sense the character is in the throes of a mid-life crisis. Downey was made for the role.
He's on break one day outside his office building, contemplating his life, when he hears the strains of beautiful music. He follows the sound and finds a street person, obviously homeless, playing a Beethoven piece on a violin outfitted with only two strings. The tone and the passion of the man's playing belie his rather quirky appearance and non-sequitur-laden monologues.
The human Lopez is captivated by the music. The reporter Lopez is captivated by the story he knows is in front of him.
He befriends the violinist and finds out he is one Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, a former Juilliard student who is now one of the estimated 11,000 residents of Los Angeles' 50-block skid row area. (This was in 2005 - the numbers are higher today.)
Lopez strikes up a friendship with Ayers and writes a column - followed by many others - about the man, skid row and the implications at hand.
Lopez contacts Ayers' sister, who has been unaware of her brother's whereabouts. She gives the reporter the backstory and Lopez learns that Ayers, as he suspected, is in the grasp of schizophrenia. The sister also tells him that her brother's instrument of choice is the cello.
Lopez buys a cello and gives it to Ayers, who makes beautiful music with it straightaway. Lopez, being burned out at his job and life in general, takes Ayers on as a personal project. Ayers appreciates some things, but gets agitated with others. When Lopez arranges for Ayers to stay at a housing unit, things erupt. Ayers does NOT like being inside.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is gearing up for a night of Beethoven, and Lopez thinks it would be good for Ayers to attend. It's out of the question for Ayers, so the reporter arranges it so he and Ayers can attend a rehearsal. It's a transforming moment, and when Ayers hears a fully outfitted orchestra playing his beloved Beethoven, it's obvious he is moved and has a (however brief) moment of clarity.
As the third act kicks in, Ayers makes progress in some ways but the story never reaches the usually fictitious moment of ultimate breakthrough.
In the end, things are better but it's not a live-happily-ever-after formulaic cliché.
Downey is great, Foxx is good and the secret weapon is Catherine Keener as Lopez's ex-wife/editor. She has never given a bad performance and is absolutely believable as the editor of a paper as big as the Times. She's an actress I would watch if she were simply reading the phone book.
There was an interview with the real Lopez on NPR two days after the film opened, and he reported on Ayers' status. Some things are better, some the same. He does have VIP status for performances at Disney Hall, where the L.A. Philharmonic plays.
Some are criticizing the film for being manipulative, and others point out that Hollywood and Oscar love characters with disabilities. Maybe both are true.
That aside, it's a compelling story. Being based on Lopez and Ayers' factual relationship makes it even more so.
Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield freelance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.
