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Film Title: The Soloist

 Best for ages: 9 and up.

Movie Website: Click Here

Year Released: 2009

Rated: PG-13 (US)

SYNOPSIS

   Academy Award® nominee Robert Downey Jr. and Academy Award® winner Jamie Foxx star in an extraordinary and inspiring true story of how a chance meeting can change a life. The Soloist tells the poignant and ultimately soaring tale of a Los Angeles newspaper reporter who discovers a brilliant and distracted street musician, with unsinkable passion, and the unique friendship and bond that transforms both their lives.

The Review

     I sat down to watch The Soloist with mixed emotions. I had heard plenty of positive things about the film’s story and the performances, but I also had heard some negative things. As a person who needs to make decisions for himself, I decided to give this film a go. I never realized that, in one sitting, I would watch the whole film and every single feature on this Blu-ray disc. It is an aspiring story that makes you look at the homeless man on the street a little differently from the way you normally would.

     The Soloist stars academy award winner Jamie Foxx and academy award nominee Robert Downey Jr. in roles that I think can garnish both men Oscars next year. Downey  plays reporter Steven Lopez, a reporter for the L.A. Times. Searching for a story for his news column in the paper, he comes across a homeless schizophrenic man, Nathaniel Ayers (Foxx), playing a two-string violin. Lopez realizes the man has talent right away, and with his  uniqueness and love for music, Lopez must do a story on him. He gets to know Ayers a bit and finds out that he is a former Juilliard student.  After doing some research, Lopez begins to write a column on Ayers.  The column becomes a hit, and a woman even donates her Cello for Ayers to play and to find again the love he once had for music. Ayers and Lopez form a friendship, as Lopez tries to help Ayers battle personal demons, he begins a journey to help homeless men, women and children throughout out the Los Angeles area.

     While the film was a bit long for the story it was trying to tell, it did not really matter. I really got the meaning of this film and the story and message it was trying to tell. The film is perfection, with top-notch performances by both Foxx and Downey, great production values, set design and even some good make-up effects and costume design. The Soloist is a film like which all films should strive to be. It is gives an entertaining story about a man who is very bright and interesting, but it also involves a social issue that needs to be addressed. The film is not only about Nathaniel Ayers' struggles on the streets, but it is about the struggles on the street for all the homeless people living throughout the country.

     The people in this film are real. It is based on a true story. Ayers and Lopez are real people, and the features on the Blu-ray disc include both men talking about their friendship, their story and why they decided it should be a film. There are a few features where both men talk about their experiences together and another feature about why it’s so important to help the homeless to get onto their feet and realize that they can make it in life. If just one person who sees this film decides to go out and try to make a difference, this film will have done its job. Other features on the disc include a making of featurette, Commentary with director Joe Wright, deleted scenes, trailers and more.

     It is not everyday that you watch a film and it inspires you in more than one way to be a better person.  That is what The Soloist does.  It is more than just a great film; it speaks volumes for the unheard voices of the people who live on the streets, for the families with no homes and the starving children all across this country. It is more than just a film, it call out to the viewers to just stop and listen to that person who is not fortunate enough to have what you do. A quick chat, some spare change or a bite to eat really does make a difference to those who do not have much.  This film speaks volumes to all of us, and provides us with a simple story of how one man helped another man realize how important he was to the people around him. 

     I think what both men would want everyone to get from this film and the story of their friendship is that not all homeless people are bad. They are just people about whom society wants to forget. Not all of them are drug addicts and pushers. Many of them are people with psychical and mental disorders, war veterans and families who have lost everything.  People like us, who have a something to give, and live a good life should try to recognize that these people need help, and by just donating a little time to talk to them or saying hello to them on the streets makes a big difference in some of their lives. Some dramatic liberties are taken to add drama to the film, but the message remains the same.

     I think this is a film, despite its PG-13 rating, would be good to see with children who can understand the goodness of giving. I think it’s appropriate for children over the age of seven, even though the film does have a little violence, and does show some drug use. The overall message is a positive one in the end, and it’s a film that can inspire greatness.

What makes this film PG-13

Violence:

Fighting: YES

Killing: YES

Guns: YES (Just the police, you never see anyone killed)

Gun Fights: NO

People/Animals being shot (by gun ,arrow or other projectile weapons): NO

Stabbing/Strangling: NO

Bombings: NO

Women harmed/killed: NO

Children harmed/killed: NO

Domestic Violence: NO

Animated Violence: (Cartoon Violence similar to Looney Toons) NO

Graphic Content:

Sex: NO (Non-Graphic)

Nudity: NO

Partial Nudity (Underwear/bra/bikini): NO

Revealing Clothes (Cleavage/low cut shorts/pants): YES

Blood: YES

Shootings: NO

Gore: Not really, it's very toned down to include some blood and flesh wounds.

Sickness: YES

Death: YES

People Dying: YES

Drowning: NO

Suicide: NO ( Although there is a heroine addict dying on the streets)

Police Brutality: NO

Corruption: NO

Drug Use: YES

Alcohol Use: YES

Smoking: YES

Greed: NO

Gambling: NO

Language:

Insults (Jerk, Idiots etc..) YES

Cursing: YES (Very Mild)

Crude Language: YES

Sexual Innuendos: YES

Sexual Insults: YES

Sexual Come-ons: YES

Adult Conversations: YES

BUY THIS MOVIE.