The Soloist

A true-life story, The Soloist follows the friendship which emerges between Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.), an LA Times columnist, and Nathaniel (Jamie Foxx), a homeless musical prodigy.

Lopez stumbles upon Nathaniel ardently playing a two-stringed violin on the streets of LA and, intrigued by this eccentric, he writes a series of human interest articles about him whilst attempting to get him off the streets.

The acting is impressive, most notably Foxx’s discerning portrayal of the terror and vulnerability (as well as the unapologetic pride) a person must feel as their sanity begins to unravel. Director Joe Wright (Atonement) produces a raw realism in the movie by casting homeless people from the streets of LA in various scenes. Viewers are occasionally allowed to escape from these gritty portrayals through beautiful birds-eye views of the city, accompanied by Bach and Beethoven string music.

Based on the book by Steve Lopez, entitled ‘The Soloist: A Lost Dream, An Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music’, this title aptly summarises Wright’s compelling rendition, as he captures all these elements and, thankfully, manages to side-step the empty feel-good moments of so many Hollywood movies (particularly those based on “true stories”).

As we witness the best and worst in humans, The Solist still manages to give the viewer a sense of hope.



Released on DVD on 1st February 2010 by Universal Pictures.

Written by Olivia Spooner.