The Soloist -- a failure on more than one level
Written: May 25 '09 (Updated May 25 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Performances, some great scenes.
Cons: Tangential scenes, excessive direction.
The Bottom Line: would rather just listen to the music.
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| updateghost's Full Review: The Soloist |
Joe Wright has produced two of the finest films of the 00s -- ask some college men and women what their favorite romance movie is, and Pride and Prejudice will surely be the answer at least a few times, making it somewhat of a genre classic. Atonement, a strange and absorbing adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel, landed on several best-of-2007 lists, and in a movie-year that well-known as competitive.
His lengthy tracking shots, intimate close-ups and use of lighting make him one of the most exciting new directors to follow -- unfortunate, then, that his directorial flourishes occasionally do his latest film, The Soloist, a disservice, and it doesn't help that Susannah Grant's frequently clever and witty script becomes increasingly sloppy as the plot moves forward.
The script is based on the true story of LA Times journalist Steve Lopez's (Robert Downey Jr.) published accounts of his encounters with Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a talented Juilliard drop-out that Lopez found playing a two-string violin on Skid Row. A fan of Lopez's column reads about Ayers and sends him her beloved cello (his original instrument), and inevitably there are scenes where we view Ayers absorbing the sounds as he plays or listens to classical music. These moments are where Wright's direction becomes overbearingly pretentious -- such as when Ayers fiddles with the cello for the first time, and the camera cuts away as two birds -- representing Ayers and Lopez -- fly high above LA. The music is ethereal, but the scenery fits congruently into a "it's like flying" cliche.
The often shapeless plot covers Lopez's fruitless efforts to change Ayers into a normal, functioning member of society, though he is only one who ends up changing, and not always in positive ways. This might be inspirational -- as the script certainly intends -- if Grant didn't weigh us down with tangents that can only render apathy. In a climactic and inevitable mental-breakdown, the script cuts to a flashback of Ayers fleeing his sister, and the fact that we care nothing for their kinship kills any possible punch. The same happens in a scene when Lopez's (fictional) ex-wife (Catherine Keener) embarrasses him at dinner -- our lack of insight into their relationship -- which is entirely Grant's fault -- leaves the moment dull and boring.
What's discomforting is how excellent the performances are, though one can't go wrong with a cast also featuring Tom Hollander and Stephen Root. Downey is unimpeachable, and while many have attached the word Oscar-baiting to Foxx's role, I suspect that this is foremost an automatic reaction -- really, what was the last well-acted "retard" role that didn't have people crying "Oscar-bait"?
Grade: C+
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
updateghost
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Member: Tom Speaker
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