The Soloist (2009)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Joe Wright

Writers (WGA):

Susannah Grant (screenplay)
Steve Lopez (book)

Release Date:

24 April 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Tagline:

Life has a mind of its own

Plot:

A Los Angeles Journalist, befriends a homeless Julliard trained musician, while looking for a new article for the paper.

Plot Keywords:

Musician | Journalist | Los Angeles Times | Columnist | Musical Genius

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Jamie Foxx	...	Nathaniel Ayers
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Steve Lopez
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Meggan Anderson	...	Flutist
Halbert Bernal	...	EMT
Matt Besser	...	Commuter #4
Troy Blendell	...	New young editor
Jayce Bradley	...	Brawling Frat Guy
Pete Brown	...	Composer
Michael Bunin	...	Adam Crane
Joshua Cabrera	...	Teenage Musician
Ralph Cole Jr.	...	Enraged Homeless Man
Ingrid Coree	...	Nurse
Paul Cruz	...	EMT
Marcos De Silvas	...	Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
Aurelius DiBarsanti	...	Paramedic
Paul Edney	...	Driver
Nelsan Ellis	...	David
S. Zev Esquenazi	...	Sgt. Hendrickson
Angela Featherstone	...	Commuter #1
Lauren E. Gates	...	Ballerina
Marissa Ghavami	...	Ballerina
Artel Great	...	Leon (as Artel Kayàru)
Paul Greenberg	...	Commuter #2
Lejla Hadzimuratovic	...	Disney Hall Patron
Justin Rodgers Hall	...	Sgt. Harris
Lisa Gay Hamilton	...	Jennifer (as Lisagay Hamilton)
Richard Hansen	...	L.A.P.D
Rachael Harris	...	Leslie
Joe Hernandez-Kolski	...	EMT #1
Tom Hollander	...	Graham Claydon
Pete Ilarius	...	Disney Hall Patron
Catherine Keener	...	Mary Weston
Edward Kiniry-Ostro	...	Craig
Francesca Kortesmaki	...	Twin violinist
Therese Kortesmaki	...	Twin violinist
Kitty Kreidler	...	Skid Row Homeless woman
Heather La Bella	...	ER Doctor
Hallie Lambert	...	Ballerina
Kirsten Lea	...	Awards Presenter
Susane Lee	...	Marisa
Lemon	...	Jeremy
Wayne Lopez	...	Officer Hank
Wally Lozano	...	Sign Spinner
Michael Maddigan	...	Brawling Frat Guy
Ricky Marciano	...	Cop
Justin Martin	...	Nathaniel - Age 13-16
Annie McKnight	...	Linda - LAMPS Advocate
George Meyers	...	Cop
Rob Nagle	...	Neil
Nick Nervies	...	Jennifer's son
Kai Nuuhiwa	...	Brawling Frat Guy
Alejandro Patino	...	Construction foreman
Palma Lawrence Reed	...	ER Nurse
Stephen Root	...	Curt
Franklin Ruehl	...	Homeless man
Esa-Pekka Salonen	...	Conductor
Jules Sanchez	...	Skid Row Porta Potty Dweller
Sharon Savene	...	LAPD Officer
Holly Sherman	...	Juilliard student
Robyn Jean Springer	...	Disney Hall patron
Janaya Sultze	...	Ballerina
Jeff Sutherland	...	Cowboy on Plane with Wife
Valentyna Svyatchenko	...	Julliard Student
Patrick Tatten	...	Paul
David Jean Thomas	...	Jim Trotter
Karmyn Tyler	...	Juilliard Party Guest
Ilia Volok	...	Mr. Barnoff
Maggie Wagner	...	Mrs. Villaraigosa
Charlie Weirauch	...	Atheist
Troy Williams	...	Cop - Hospital Scene

Also Known As:

Imagining Beethoven (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, some drug use and language.

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

UK | USA | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:PG-13 (certificate #44923) | Netherlands:12 | South Korea:12 | Ireland:12A

Filming Locations:

Biltmore Hotel - 506 S. Grand Avenue, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

The real Nathaniel Ayers was invited to view the filming of the scenes at Disney Hall in Los Angeles, but opted on the day to set up his cello and music across the street and continue playing saying "I really got something going here. I think I'm going to stay and play this just a little bit longer." Steve Lopez spoke about this incident in an interview conducted by Dave Davies for National Public Radio's program Fresh Air in April 2008. He added: "I look(ed) across (the street from Disney Hall) and there he is sawing away, as he calls it. And inside this building there are maybe three hundred people, the LA Philharmonic, the cast, the crew, are shooting a movie about his life. And I said to the producer Gary Foster 'You know what Gary, we picked the right name for this thing, The Soloist. There he is.'"

Goofs:

Continuity: When Lopez pulls over in the tunnel after spotting Ayers, his car blocks the right lane. In subsequent shots, cars are seen in the background cruising through that very same lane, one even merges into it, even though Lopez's car is blocking it just a few yards ahead.

Quotes:

Steve Lopez: I don't give a smooth fart whether or not we go.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009) (TV)

Who are you?

Do not think this as one of those schmaltzy ersatz living experiences. That is what the people who packaged the movie want you to think. This is a movie about failure, and if you had enough of grim and depressing news lately, do not see the movie. On the other hand, if you are not suffering from empathy deficit disorder you are ready for the experience. The story is of Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez, and Skid Row dweller Nathaniel Ayers. Lopez wrote about his friendship with Ayers in his columns, which were later adapted into a book on which this movie is based. The experience that the director and his actors dish up is the rough kind, the sort that acknowledges limitations. Wright took firm control of the movie's tone: The first half describes Lopez's meeting and initial attempts to help Ayers, it is about feeling good, redemption. The second, more realistic part is about the sweat and pain that comes after the saving, for both the redeemed and the redeemer. This movie is less about a friendship between a journalist and a down-and-out musician, than it is about seeing what, and who we are we looking at. The movie is only in part about a serious illness. It does a god job of getting at the isolation we feel when we have tried to do the right thing and never could do enough. In the end, "The Soloist" is about how unknowable other people really are.