The Soloist

There are always problems with movie adaptations of books, and none more glaring than Joe Wright's interpretation of The Soloist. Previously known for Pride and Prejudice and Atonement, it is somewhat of a relief that Wright doesn't crowd The Soloist with over saturated colors and clever camera shots straight out of film school (for the most part).

Steve Lopez's The Soloist tells the story of Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless and schizophrenic musician in LA who attended Julliard two decades ago before having a mental breakdown. This is really two stories, one about music and the other about the homeless and dispirited in LA and the mind-wrenching misery of Skid Row. Lopez, a columnist for the LA Times, becomes Nathaniel's friend and helps him regain some measure of himself through music. Here are some of the issues that the movie gets wrong:

1. Nathaniel's original instrument was the bass.
   
2. Wright barely comments on race relations in the movies, especially the fact that Ayers was a flaming racist.
   
3. No one sees the ambiance swirls on Windows Media Player in their head when listening to Beethoven.
4. Steve Lopez is not divorced, nor was his wife ever his boss.
5. Nathaniel Ayers has never physically assaulted Steve Lopez.
6. It's omits the fact that Ayers refuses to go on medication now because he's was forcibly medicated when leaving Julliard.

And what was up with the urine jokes? I can't say that the book was a life-changing experience for me, but it was a thousand times better than the movie was. Thin on substance, the movie really gets none of the book's points across. Wright doesn't explore social policy very effectively, nor does he create particularly sympathetic characters.

I've never been a fan of Jamie Foxx, and certainly not his character in this movie. The real Ayers was no saint by Lopez's book, but Foxx gives us a strange and flat interpretation of schizophrenia, almost completely lacking in nuance. Robert Downey Jr does an unsympathetic and whiny Steve Lopez, which is certainly not the case in the book (although it was written by Lopez). As someone who loves RDJ's work, his performance in this movie is not up to par. And Joe Wright, I know you love your P&P cast, but must you bring in Tom Hollander as an ultra-religious cellist? What were you thinking?

Conclusion: Skip the movie. Skip the book if you prefer more elitist literature (like me).