The public loves the underdog tale, especially when it pertains to an unlikely person possessing an extraordinary talent that's yet to be polished by professionals. Just look at the meteoric rise to fame of Susan Boyle. In case you've been living under a rock or have been too busy to notice the hoopla, she's the middle-aged spinster from Scotland who's become a household name nearly overnight after stunning the audience and judges (including Simon Cowell) on "Britain's Got Talent" and has since become a sensation on YouTube and beyond.
Sensing the near universal adoration of the woman, her story, and that amazing voice, I'm guessing the Hollywood movie machine is already racing to profit from her success (whether she gets and/or wants a Cinderella ending is yet to be determined).
Yet, hers will likely be an easy sell compared to that of Nathaniel Ayers, another real-life talent, first profiled by L.A. Times reporter Steve Lopez back in 2005. The writer discovered the homeless man on the streets of Los Angeles and profiled him in a series of articles that soon gathered some attention (although nowhere to the level of Boyle thanks to today's instantaneous viral spread). Lopez, however, didn't just focus on the man's talent (he attended Juilliard for a time), but also his mental illness (schizophrenia) and the plight of such people and the general homeless in the City of Angels.
Those articles then resulted in a book that's now been turned into a movie, "The Soloist," that would seem to have everything going for it. After all, its director, Joe Wright, is coming off the success of "Atonement" and "Pride & Prejudice," while its screenwriter, Susannah Grant, scored critical and box office acclaim with "Erin Brockovich." Then there's the onscreen talent involved, including two-time Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr. as the reporter and Oscar winner Jamie Foxx playing the tormented musical genius.
Unfortunately, some aspect of that combination of talent resulted in a less than satisfying or engaging experience. In fact, the releasing studio apparently realized that as well, moving the pic from the prime Oscar season of last November to the dumping ground that is late April. While it might be a tad better than the rest of the fictional flotsam being released with it, it's clearly a major disappointment considering the real life story and related potential, as well as all of the talent involved.
The biggest issue may be with Wright's direction. While he might have an eye for the look and feel of those period costume dramas he previously helmed, his effort to go contemporary here just doesn't work. And much of them stems from trying too hard to impose symbolism throughout the pic.
Beyond the obnoxious handheld camerawork (presumably meant to represent the lack of stability in the life of Ayers and the rest of the homeless and/or psychologically afflicted), there's the usual array of straight down aerial views of the city (a once decent symbolic shot that's now lost its effectiveness through overuse -- not only here but in most other flicks) and, most obnoxious of all, a psychedelic light and color show meant to represent Ayers' reaction to hearing an orchestra do a Beethoven number. I understand what the filmmaker is going for, but it just doesn't work and certainly pales in comparison to what Stanley Kubrick and Walter/Wendy Carlos did with Ludwig van in "A Clockwork Orange."
The second fault lies with the screenplay, and I'm not just referring to the use of voice-over narration from Downey Jr.'s character that's both unnecessary and far too on-the-nose ("disguised" as dictation into a tape recorder for the reporter's stories). It's simply that the story arc never escapes the predictable while at the same time meanders here and there, and thus comes off as slow and boring. While it's commendable that focus is placed on the plight of the homeless (and some real such folks were reportedly used as background extras in certain scenes), it just doesn't emotionally connect, or at least it didn't to yours truly.
And some of that stems from the way the main characters are written and portrayed. Downey Jr. tries his best to create a caring, involved and frustrated reporter, but I never bought into the rationale behind his devotion to the stranger.
While Foxx is generally good in a hard to play role (schizophrenia never being easy as it's a fine line upon which one must balance), I similarly didn't end up lost in his character. In other words, I could always see the actor playing the part rather than becoming it (especially knowing that performers love these sorts of characters since they're usually Oscar bait), and that simply lessens the potential power of both the character and overall film.
Perhaps with a more finely tuned script and a different director, this might have turned into the award-worthy film the studio was so obviously expecting. As it stands, it's no surprise it got dumped into one of the worst weekends in the Hollywood schedule, as it's a film that's all the more disappointing considering what it had going for it. Too polished and with too much pre-existing talent to be considered a budding underdog waiting to be discovered, it's unlikely "The Soloist" will go viral and spread like wildfire among the populace. It rates as a 4 out of 10.
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