The Soloist

The Soloist grabbed my attention right off the bat because it is based on a true story. Besides that, the film has two phenomenal actors in them who are extremely talented, Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx. With those two elements on my side, the movie did follow through.

I think it's interesting how many times the story of this man's life has been told. First, Steve Lopez discovered this homeless, talented musician on the street in LA, and he thought it would be a story. Working for the LA Times, Lopez wrote a few columns on this talented man, Nathaniel Ayers, which he eventually turned into a book. Then this book turned into a blockbuster movie, and now people are commenting on the book and the movie just like I am now. Isn't it interesting how many ways the same story can be told?

Basically, Ayers was a homeless man who suffered extreme bouts of mental illness. She is schizophrenic, which caused him to lose his spot at Juliard and land him on the streets. However, Ayers is extremely brilliant. He taught himself to play various instruments, and he can play them better than those who practice for years and years. It's an incredible story.





Lopez helps get Ayers off the streets and helped with treatment. He even starts playing again which really lightens Ayers' day. It's crazy to think about how generous Lopez must be to help out this homeless guy. I mean, yeah at first he wanted a story and that is a bit selfish, but he didn't need to push it this far. His life started to blur with Ayers's life. It's really inspirational.

I thought the movie was done pretty well. I just wonder how it really happened and what the two men look like. I did look it up afterwards, and they look pretty different, but what are you going to do? Two talented actors did a terrific job. I just wonder how accurate the movie is to real life.

I enjoyed the movie. I heard it might even be movie of the year, 2009. Is that true? It was good, but I don't know if it was that good.

So what do you think of The Soloist?