SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: THE SOLOIST

"THE SOLOIST"
(2009) (Robert Downey Jr. Jamie Foxx) (PG-13)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Heavy	Moderate	Moderate	Mild	Minor

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Moderate	Minor	Mild	None	Heavy

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Mild	Mild	Mild	Heavy	Mild

QUICK TAKE:: Drama: A newspaper reporter befriends and tries to help a homeless man whose life and innate musical talent are undermined by his schizophrenia.

PLOT:: It's 2005 and Steve Lopez (ROBERT DOWNEY JR.) is a columnist for the L.A. Times where his ex-wife, Mary (CATHERINE KEENER), is also his boss/editor. With the backdrop of the paper suffering financial difficulties, Steve happens upon someone in a worse situation. And that's Nathaniel Ayers (JAMIE FOXX), a homeless man with just a two-stringed violin and suffering from schizophrenia. Nathaniel is friendly yet somewhat aloof, but it's his claim that he attended Julliard before suffering a few "setbacks" that grabs Steve's attention.
After confirming that with the school as well as Nathaniel's sister, Jennifer (LISA GAY HAMILTON), who hasn't seen him in years, Steve sets out to learn more about this man, especially after discovering that he's truly musically gifted. After initially viewing the homeless man's story as good fodder for his column, Steve then sets out to do what he can to help Nathaniel, even if the troubled former prodigy doesn't necessarily want that.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Unless they're fans of someone in the cast and/or are interested in stories about music, mental illness and/or the homeless, it doesn't seem too likely.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: For thematic elements, some drug use and language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: ROBERT DOWNEY JR. plays a newspaper columnist who senses a good story in Nathaniel, but then comes to like and want to help the homeless man. He uses profanity, some of it briefly strong, drinks, and briefly smokes, all while frustrated about his inability to assist him as much as he'd like to.
JAMIE FOXX plays the homeless man whose schizophrenia and talent for and love of music (especially Beethoven) are constantly at odds with each other. He comes to like Steve as much as a person in his condition can, but his behavior is unpredictable and he doesn't want anyone's help.
CATHERINE KEENER plays Steve's ex-wife but current boss/editor who's under pressure from her superiors about the paper's financial standing. She's intoxicated in one scene and uses some profanity.
LISA GAY HAMILTON plays Nathaniel's adult sister who hasn't heard from him in years but is still concerned about him.; JAMIE FOXX plays the homeless man whose schizophrenia and talent for and love of music (especially Beethoven) are constantly at odds with each other. He comes to like Steve as much as a person in his condition can, but his behavior is unpredictable and he doesn't want anyone's help.
CATHERINE KEENER plays Steve's ex-wife but current boss/editor who's under pressure from her superiors about the paper's financial standing. She's intoxicated in one scene and uses some profanity.
LISA GAY HAMILTON plays Nathaniel's adult sister who hasn't heard from him in years but is still concerned about him.; CATHERINE KEENER plays Steve's ex-wife but current boss/editor who's under pressure from her superiors about the paper's financial standing. She's intoxicated in one scene and uses some profanity.
LISA GAY HAMILTON plays Nathaniel's adult sister who hasn't heard from him in years but is still concerned about him.; LISA GAY HAMILTON plays Nathaniel's adult sister who hasn't heard from him in years but is still concerned about him.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

The following is a brief summary of the content found in this drama that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least 2 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. Brief sexually related dialogue and writing on a coffee mugs are present.

Violence consists of some brief contact as a well as a single person bike accident with bloody facial wounds. Other blood, lesions and some crude humor are present, and that along with some depictions of mental illness might be unsettling for some viewers.

There's miscellaneous drug use (smoking what looks like crack) as well as drinking, with some brief intoxication, while smoking also occurs. Bad attitudes are present, as is some behavior that kids might want to imitate. Some tense family material is also present, as are various thematic elements.

Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, there's some of that in several scenes from flickering flames in young Nathaniel's basement fire. In a different scene, an imagined bit shows flashes of colored light filling up the entire screen, in a partial strobe fashion (representing Nathaniel's mental/emotional reaction to listening to Beethoven).

For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there are varying amounts of camera movement in the film (sometimes of the fairly bouncy, handheld variety). There's also a point of view camera shot from inside a mail cart going through the newspaper office. That's later followed in another scene by a flying point of view camera shot.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Steve has some wine.
Various people smoke drugs (possibly crack) on the street, while others wonder if Steve needs some as he drives through a bad part of town.
A mentally ill woman rambles on about various things, including something about thinking a person was on cocaine but that was really pancreatic cancer.
A mentally ill woman talks of not liking lithium as it takes away the voices that are reassuring to her.
We see various people smoking drugs (possibly crack).
We briefly see views of bad-looking lesions on a woman's arm and neck, and hear that she overdosed.
Miscellaneous people drink in a bar where Steve has a shot of liquor.
People have wine at a reception where Mary later appears and acts intoxicated.
Steve has a line of shots in a bar and drinks some.
We see a miscellaneous person drinking from a paper bag on the street.

BLOOD/GORE: Steve wipes out on his bike and lands hard on the road, bloodying the side of his head. He's later seen with related scrapes and a black eye, while some other patients in the emergency room where he's taken are also a bit bloody (such as a blood-soaked bandage on a person's belly -- seen from a distance).
Steve prepares to donate blood, although we don't see that occur, but do hear of a required urine sample. We then see an overhead camera shot moving across stalls in a men's bathroom, with a view of a man seated on a toilet (brief, related sounds, but no nudity or scatological views), followed by Steve standing in another stall. We hear the sound of him urinating in a cup for that sample, but he then accidentally drops the cup, spilling the urine on the floor. He then slips on that and lands in the puddle.
Steve's neighbor informs him that the way to get rid of raccoons in the yard is the use of powdered coyote urine, and there's more talk of that in another scene.
Nathaniel informs Steve that he had to dig a hole to bury his defecation as there were no bathrooms available.
We briefly see TV footage of a child's face somewhat covered in what looked like blood.
We briefly see a woman who has what look like very bad blisters on her face.
Steve tries hanging a bag of coyote urine up above the ground, but it's leaking on him and then springs a bigger leak that sprays him in the face.
We briefly see views of bad-looking lesions on a woman's arm and neck, and hear that she overdosed.
About something, Steve states, "I do not give a smooth fart."
A professional cellist tells Nathaniel that he was so nervous before his first concert that he vomited all over his own tuxedo (not seen).
We see a pool of blood along with some soaked material by it (from an unseen beating).

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Mary jokes about their son and his "pre-gay" college roommate.
Not liking that a shelter director won't push for Nathaniel to be medicated, Steve tells the man, "What you do here is f*cked."
Some audience members chuckle at the sight of Nathaniel at his recital.
We see cops struggling with various homeless people and arresting them for lame reasons.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Scenes listed under "Violence" and/or "Blood/Gore" may be unsettling and/or suspenseful to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material.
We see a flashback to young Nathaniel peering from his basement window to see a car slowly rolling by on the street, fully engulfed in flames (at night and presented in something of a surreal fashion).
Nathaniel suddenly darts out in front of Steve's car as he drives by. Steve stops and is then horrified to see Nathaniel trying to pick up a discarded cigarette butt in the middle of a busy highway as cars zip by.
In a flashback, we see younger Nathaniel being afflicted by voices in his head that then torment him in another scene.
We see a rat scurrying along where Nathaniel is planning to sleep.
Nathaniel hears voices that torment him as he prepares for his recital. We then see flashbacks interspersed with the contemporary footage, including younger Nathaniel coming at his sister with something. We also see Nathaniel come at another man with his bow, and then with a makeshift club with what appear to be nails at the end (for the man touching him).
In that same flashback, younger Nathaniel appears somewhat unhinged and possibly dangerous toward his sister, forcing her to eat spoonfuls of soup or something similar she's prepared for him, thus unsettling her.
We see a pool of blood along with some soaked material by it (from an unseen beating). Steve worries that it was Nathaniel who was the victim and thus spends much of the night trying to find him (he turns out to be okay and wasn't the victim).
Upset about papers labeling him as schizophrenic, Nathaniel backhands Steve and then shoves him back against a wall. He then holds his hand over his mouth, struggles with him on the floor, and warns that he'll cut him open and gut him like a fish if he (Nathaniel) sees him there again.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Nathaniel comes at a man (who only touched him, in a non-aggressive manner) with a makeshift club with what appear to be nails sticking out of the end.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "I don't even know what you f*cking call it," "What you do here is f*cked," "No sh*t," "Oh sh*t," "No one is going to steal this sh*t," "You're so full of sh*t," "I could sell the sh*t out of it," "Who needs that sh*t?" "Beat the sh*t out of him," "Your face hurts my feelings," "Freaking," "Is gonna freak," "Oh, son of a bitch," "Are you out of your mind?" "I gave you the damn thing," "Schmuck," "I do not give a smooth fart," "That's a slippery slope, Slopez," "Screw that," "Who the hell are you?" "I'll cut you open and gut you like a fish" and "Piss each other off."
We see miscellaneous graffiti in various scenes.
It's possible some kids might want to imitate Nathaniel's mental illness and associated behavior - thinking they're being funny.
Steve has a coffee mug that reads "Men are from Mars. She stole my penis."
Nathaniel suddenly darts out in front of Steve's car as he drives by. Steve stops and is then horrified to see Nathaniel trying to pick up a discarded cigarette butt in the middle of a busy highway as cars zip by.
We see a few people with cigarettes over their ears.
We briefly see a woman with a stud between her lower lip and chin, while another is later seen with multiple piercings in a nostril.
One scene features Nathaniel wearing a full ski mask, while another has him with something white all over his face.

JUMP SCENES: Nathaniel suddenly darts out in front of Steve's car as he drives by.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): A mild amount of suspenseful music plays in the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: At least 2 "f" words, 8 "s" words, 2 damns, 2 hells, 2 S.O.B.s, 1 crap, 2 uses each of "G-damn," "Jesus" and "Oh Christ" and 1 use each of "God," "God-awful," "Jesus Christ" and "My God."

SEX/NUDITY: Steve has a coffee mug that reads "Men are from Mars. She stole my penis."
We see a flashback to Nathaniel as a shirtless boy playing the cello.
A mentally ill woman rambles on about various things, including something about a relative visiting call girls and then infecting his wife with diseases.
We briefly see a woman in fairly small and tight shorts.
In the background of a shot focusing on Nathaniel fixing his hair, we see a man's bare upper torso as he showers.
We see that Nathaniel has a bra wrapped around his cello.

SMOKING: Steve smokes once, while some miscellaneous people smoke in a few scenes.
We see a few people with cigarettes over their ears.
We see a pile of discarded cigarette butts on a street.
We briefly see images of what looks like Nathaniel lighting and holding a cigarette (but it might be something else considering his anti-cigarette butt stance).
Steve dives across a bed to grab and hide a cigarette butt before Nathaniel enters the room and sees it.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: Mary is Steve's editor/boss, but also his ex or estranged wife, and there's talk of them having a son in college.
Nathaniel mentions his mom dying (sometime in the past).
Steve calls Jennifer (Nathaniel's adult sister) who's surprised to hear news about him.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: The true story on which this is based and the historical accuracy of the film and/or any artistic license taken with the details.
Homeless people.
Schizophrenia and other mental illnesses.
The music of Beethoven.
Newspapers and how their print versions and thus staff are shrinking.
We see a flashback to young Nathaniel peering from his basement window to see a car slowly rolling by on the street, fully engulfed in flames (at night).
We briefly see TV news footage of Hurricane Katrina victims waving for help from rooftops and such.
A mentally ill woman talks of not liking lithium as it takes away the voices that are reassuring to her.
Steve's question about whether medication would give Nathaniel a new life.

VIOLENCE: Steve wipes out on his bike and lands hard on the road, bloodying the side of his head.
We see brief person-to-person contact on a street where one of them is knocked down.
We briefly see a woman and man struggling on the street, rolling around.
We see cops struggling with various homeless people.
We see a pool of blood along with some soaked material by it (from an unseen beating).
Steve throws his phone or something similarly small against a wall while angry.
Upset about papers labeling him as schizophrenic, Nathaniel backhands Steve and then shoves him back against a wall. He then holds his hand over his mouth, struggles with him on the floor, and warns that he'll cut him open and gut him like a fish if he (Nathaniel) sees him there again.

Reviewed April 21, 2009 / Posted April 24, 2009

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