Synopsis for
The Soloist (2009) More at IMDbPro »

Schizophrenic Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a homeless musician of Los Angeles's Skid Row dreams of playing at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. By chance he meets newspaper journalist Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) who tries to help this man get back on his feet to make his dreams come true. Based on the book by the real Lopez, which was an account of his relationship with the real Ayers. Dr. Oliver Sacks, a famed neurologist, authenticates the Lopez account in his most recent book, "Musicophilia."

Steve Lopez hasn't had a good story in a while and the newspaper where he works is laying off journalists due to falling ratings. He had been looking for a story in all the wrong places; when he happened upon a homeless violinist, Nathaniel Ayers, playing beautifully with only 2 strings. Ayers was a former Juilliard student who begins to trust Lopez, and a friendship grows, but not necessarily to the benefit of either. While Lopez intention is to help Ayers; he isn't sure that he has in the end. Some believe Lopez saved Ayers, because he became his only friend. Can the act of caring be enough to help a person who has a mental illness? Even still, Lopez has been positively influenced by witnessing the musical genius he has found in Ayers. He was interested in Ayers and so were his readers and public officials, including the mayor, who pledges money for homeless centers.

Academy Award-nominated Atonement director Joe Wright teams with screenwriter Susannah Grant to tell the true-life story of Nathaniel Ayers, a former cello prodigy whose bouts with schizophrenia landed him on the streets after two years of schooling at Juilliard. Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) is a disenchanted journalist stuck in a dead-end job. His marriage to a fellow journalist having recently come to an end, Steve is wandering through Los Angeles' Skid Row when he notices a bedraggled figure playing a two-stringed violin. The figure in question is Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a man whose promising career in music was cut short due to a debilitating bout with mental illness. The more Lopez learns about Ayers, the greater his respect grows for the troubled soul. How could a man with such remarkable talent wind up living on the streets, and not be performing on-stage with a symphony orchestra? Later, as Lopez embarks on a quixotic quest to help Ayers pull his life together and launch a career in music, he gradually comes to realize that it is not Ayers whose life is being transformed, but his own. [D-Man2010]

Journalist Steve Lopez discovers Nathaniel Anthony Ayers , a former classical music prodigy, playing his violin on the streets of L.A. As Lopez endeavors to help the homeless man find his way back, a unique friendship is formed, one that transforms both their lives. [D-Man2010]