The Soloist (2009)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Joe Wright

Writers (WGA):

Susannah Grant (screenplay)
Steve Lopez (book)

Release Date:

24 April 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Biography | Music

Tagline:

Life has a mind of its own

Plot:

A Los Angeles journalist befriends a homeless Julliard-trained musician, while looking for a new article for the paper.

Plot Keywords:

Musician | Journalist | Columnist | Los Angeles Times | Reporter

Cast

Jamie Foxx	...	Nathaniel Ayers
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Steve Lopez
Catherine Keener	...	Mary Weston
Tom Hollander	...	Graham Claydon
Lisa Gay Hamilton	...	Jennifer Ayers (as Lisagay Hamilton)
Nelsan Ellis	...	David Carter
Rachael Harris	...	Leslie Bloom
Stephen Root	...	Curt Reynolds
Lorraine Toussaint	...	Flo Ayers
Justin Martin	...	Young Nathaniel
Kokayi Ampah	...	Bernie Carpenter
Patrick Tatten	...	Paul Jr.
Susane Lee	...	Marisa (as Susane E. Lee)
Marcos De Silvas	...	Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
Ilia Volok	...	Harry Barnoff

Also Known As:

Imagining Beethoven (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, some drug use and language.

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

UK | USA | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:PG-13 (certificate #44923) | Netherlands:12 | South Korea:12 | Ireland:12A | Singapore:PG | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | UK:12A | Finland:K-11 | Argentina:13 | Brazil:12

Filming Locations:

Biltmore Hotel - 506 S. Grand Avenue, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

In the film, Steve Lopez is portrayed as divorced. However, his real life counterpart remains happily married. Lopez said that while having himself portrayed as recently single in the film was a bit weird, it was much more important to him that the film makers captured the themes of his articles rather than absolute facts.

Goofs:

Continuity: A utility truck is seen in the tunnel when Lopez and Nathaniel are talking. The utility truck was not their before Lopez stopped his car.

Quotes:

Nathaniel Ayers: Beauty is art; music is beauty.

Movie Connections:

References Fantasia (1940)

Interesting to know

I am a musician and live in France, where the release date of this movie is scheduled for Sept. 2 2009. I obviously cannot write a review at the present time but have nevertheless read the book.

What no one mentions in all of the above comments is that Nathaniel Ayers was originally a Double Bass student at Julliard and NOT a cellist. That instrument-- along with the violin, trumpet, and piano, all came about later on. Put any instrument into his hands and he'll do his best to master it.

Having attended Yale university, I did not know him personally, even though we studied with one of the greatest bass teachers in the New York area at that time: Homer Mensch. Recently our paths did finally cross thanks to one of our mutual acquaintances, bassist and composer Joe Russo. Nathan likes to write down the names of his long lost good friends on walls, or any writing surface, and Joe's name is always there, scribbled amongst his favorites. This was where Steve noticed Joe's name and Googled him to look up his website. A new and close friendship resulted between them, and the many anecdotes that Joe pulled out of Nathan's past were worth their weight in gold to Steve, enough to devote the entire chapter 8 of the book to Joe!

To me, reading this book made me come to the conclusion that every man has his hour in life, and Nathan's time had come now. The chances of 2 men, one homeless and one not, being pulled together through the sound of a violin in a rush hour tunnel, were undoubtedly written in the stars. Through articles, a book and now a film on Nathan, Steve helped uplift a poor and abandoned part of society to a rank that it never imagined nor asked for, but morally deserved. We all know that the Internet is indeed capable of connecting and reconnecting people in the present, but only music can magically, throughout time, open the doors that connect all of us to one another.