When a film gets shifted from a prime awards-baiting release date in the fall to the virtual graveyard that is April, there has to be some concern.  Looking at the pedigree of such a picture should usually uncover potential issues, perhaps that they were aiming higher than they had reason to, or were stretching beyond their capabilities.  And while I'm personally not too impressed with the work of director Joe Wright up until this point (Atonement is one of the most overrated movies in recent memory) he does have some technical skill, and critics largely praise his pictures.  Couple that with Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx, and multiple nominees Robert Downey Jr. and Catherine Keener, and this should absolutely have stuck to it original release date, or at least been pushed to this fall, yes?  No matter how good it is, coming out in April isn't going to get it any attention come next year's awards, right?

Right.  The whole situation of The Soloist is a mystery to me.  I fully expected the film to be lousy, given what's happened to it.  The movie did no kind of business, despite having a trailer that's been playing in theaters for nearly a year, and having the biggest star of movies of 2008 headlining.  Did the shifted release scare that many people off?  I doubt it, I don't know that people really study this.  On the other hand, if The Road flops and disappears this fall (after getting pushed from last fall), we'll know there's a trend afoot.

But yes, I don't understand why this was moved, the only reasonable explanation being that the film wasn't complete.  Fine, but it's not like this was Titanic, requiring massive post-production to complete effects and such (Titanic, you'll remember, was supposed to come out over the 4th of July in 1997, originally).  So maybe they wanted to put some room between all the Downey of '08, given that Soloist would've been his third film out in six months - even if the first two were both big hits, Iron Man and Tropic Thunder.  That logic doesn't exactly fly with me, as it sure could've capitalized on the momentum and reached a wider audience.

Was it the movie itself?  The story of a newspaperman finding a schizophrenic homeless musician and trying to help get his life straightened out didn't feel like an awards film?  Sure, newspapers are quickly becoming our era's vaudeville and radio drama as far as attention is being paid, but it's still a staple of cinema.  Triumphing over adversity and mental handicap is always a rousing, uplifting experience. Male bonding, prodigy musicians, gritty views of urban areas - these are the elements beloved by critics and audiences in search of a high brow, thinking man's film.  So why then would you dump The Soloist in April, on the heels of such high brow fare as Fast and Furious, directly forward of that Brechtian drama X-Men Origins: Wolverine?  Bizarre!

I say these things with sincerity, as I think this was a better movie than it was treated and recognized, and deserved a shot at some laurels in the fall.  Last year wasn't the greatest for awards pictures, with only a handful of really decent movies, albeit a lot of good performances - see my Best Movies of 2008 for further Goatius opinion on the subject - so I think this had as good a shot as, say, Frost/Nixon at garnering some Oscar love.

That being said, it's not a perfect movie by any stretch.  The journalist, Steve Lopez of the L.A. Times, does what he can for the homeless musician, Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Jr., writing columns about his plight, getting him a place to stay off the streets, and supplying him with a donated cello.  And while the title and the plot feel very much like it's going to be the story of Ayers journey back to society, and become a one-sided tour-de-force for Foxx, the film ends up as more of an examination of Lopez, his motives, and his coming to grips with his work and life.

In the hands of a lesser actor, perhaps Lopez would've gotten lost in all the carefully nuanced pyrotechnics of Foxx's portrayal, but Downey more than holds his own, and so pulls this film above similar genre pictures about mental disorders.  Lopez is using Ayers from the beginning, clearly, even if he does genuinely want to help.  But it's all with the intention of writing a story, keeping his job amidst the breakdown of the modern print journalism world.  And through the course of the picture the sense that Ayers cannot be "fixed" only sharpens the focus clearer on the fact that maybe he's not the one who needs fixing.

Downey and Foxx are terrific to watch, and Keener - as Lopez's colleague and ex-wife - acts as Lopez's conscience wonderfully, forcing him to face the truth about his motivations and growing role in Ayers life.  It's a very strong, engrossing acting picture to watch.

And despite my preconceived opinions about the director, Wright fared very well here, only going off the rails occasionally - the lengthy light show while Ayers listens to the orchestra comes to mind.  It's a well photographed, well structured narrative, which only really unravels towards the end.

That ending is what keeps the film from really being great.  I understand, it's a true story, and they've done their level best to capture the ugly realism of this seedy L.A. - using actual homeless people as actors was an interesting, Tod Browning-esque touch - but you can't help but feel a bit let down by the slapped together ending that tries to leave you feeling good about things, but can't help disappointing a bit.  The inevitability of all characters situations is clear from about the halfway point of the film, and from there it loses a little steam getting to the ending. 

All in all, a terrific acting showcase, but a hard film to love.  The Soloist is entertaining overall, and at this point I'd watch Robert Downey Jr. read stock quotes for two hours, so terrific he is at seemingly everything.   

The Goatius Grade = 4.0

See my other 2009 film reviews, plus a little Frost/Nixon thrown in for good measure:
X-Men Origins: Wolverine, 
Adventureland,
Observe and Report,
Monsters vs. Aliens,
Watchmen,
I Love You, Man,
The Great Buck Howard

Recommended: Yes