The Phoenix Network:
 
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
Features  |  Reviews
FIND MOVIES
Find a Movie
Movie List
Loading ...
or
Find Theaters and Movie Times
or
Search Movies
Best of Boston 2009

Review: The Soloist

Troubled reporter meets homeless musical genius
By TOM MEEK  |  April 21, 2009
3.0 3.0 Stars


VIDEO: The trailer for The Soloist 

Director Joe Wright's debut, the Keira Knightley/Matthew Macfadyen Pride & Prejudice, reveled in period lushness; his follow-up, Atonement, boasted a long, artful tracking shot and confirmed his knack for the epic. So he seems an odd fit for a small, real-life drama about a homeless musical genius set in the urban present.

The Soloist is uneven but affecting. Wright's bravura direction helps, but the real virtuoso here is Robert Downey Jr., whose troubled LA Times reporter, Steve Lopez, must confront a failed marriage and a dying industry.

Redemption comes in the form of Nathaniel Ayers (an adequate Jamie Foxx, though Samuel L. Jackson would have seemed born for the role), a Juilliard dropout living on the streets. Wright never indulges in maudlin heavy-handedness, and that allows Downey to achieve genuine pathos.

Related: Do the write thing, Born again, Autumn peeves, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Celebrity News, Entertainment, Jamie Foxx,  More more >
  • Share:
  • RSS feed Rss
  • Email this article to a friend Email
  • Print this article Print
Comments

UNSEXY 2009
Unsexy_09-top-All
Today's Event Picks
-->
ARTICLES BY TOM MEEK
Share this entry with Delicious

 See all articles by: TOM MEEK

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group