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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Soloist, The

EMAILPRINTDreamWorks Pictures (Paramount)

Soloist, The reviews
61
7.2 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 33 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 43 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: Susannah Grant

Directed by: Joe Wright

Release Date:
Theatrical: April 24, 2009
DVD: August 4, 2009

Running Time: 105 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: PG-13 for thematic elements, some drug use and language

Starring Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr., Catherine Keener, Tom Hollander, and Lisa Gay Hamilton

In The Soloist, an emotionally soaring drama about the redemptive power of music, journalist Steve Lopez discovers Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, a former classical music prodigy, playing his violin on the streets of L.A. As Lopez endeavors to help the homeless man find his way back, a unique friendship is formed, one that transforms both their lives. (Paramount)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

90

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

A triumphant movie about failure.

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80

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Mr. Wright and his colleagues have made a movie with a spaciousness of its own, a brave willingness to explore such mysteries of the mind and heart as the torture that madness can inflict, and the rapture that music can confer. Bravo to all concerned.

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80

Empire Dan Jolin

Intelligent and uncompromising, with knock-out performances from Downey Jr. and Foxx .

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80

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx are on fire in the lead roles: They're both charismatic as hell without sacrificing any of the emotional honesty necessary for you to believe that these movie stars are a scruffy reporter and a mentally ill musician.

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75

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The Soloist does have the courage to be true to the real Ayers' fate at last, after the exaggerations end. And the smart, hard-working Foxx and Downey ensure that their scenes all stay grittily honest.

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75

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Downey gives a nervy, riveting performance in The Soloist.

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75

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Isn't so much a story of perseverance and musical triumph as it is of despair, acceptance, and social commitment. The movie's a call to arms: We are our brothers' keepers, it says, and our brothers are in terrible shape.

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75

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

It's all a bit shapeless, yet made with sincerity and taste, and the two actors seize your sympathy.

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75

Premiere Rob Calvert

The Soloist is based upon a true story, so it lacks some of the clichés that you might find in other made-up tales.

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75

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

In the end, The Soloist isn't about BIG MOMENTS, it's about the grace notes, the kind that stay with you.

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75

USA Today Claudia Puig

Catherine Keener is also believable and sympathetic as Lopez's editor and former wife. But the film's power comes down to the strength of the two superb lead performances.

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75

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Foxx is magnificent, taking a role that could be exorbitantly showy (actors playing the mentally disabled tend to forget the word "restraint") and turning in a performance that's controlled and mesmerizing.

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75

TV Guide Perry Seibert

This kind of movie quickly falls apart if the actors overplay the inherent sadness of the situation, and thankfully the stellar cast never makes that mistake.

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75

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

The film works best when it focuses on the touching, crazymaking relationship between the two men.

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70

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

Hollywood loves the heroics of good intentions, but this movie is just as interested in the road to hell.

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70

The New Yorker David Denby

I don't know if Beethoven and a sympathetic newspaper reporter can redeem a messy American city, but this movie makes a plausible case for so fervent a dream.

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67

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

You can't help but feel a connection to Downey and Foxx and, to a lesser degree, a rooting interest in the story. But try as Wright might, he never figures out a way to bring us in -- much less manipulate us -- cinematically.

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63

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

This is the story of a complicated and fraught friendship, and I'm not sure Wright and his collaborators figured out how much Hollywood baloney and how much naturalistic grunge to apply to it.

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63

ReelViews James Berardinelli

The problem with The Soloist is that, while Wright shows admirable restraint in dramatizing the interaction between the two principals and does not fall into the trap of following a "movie of the week" formula about mental illness, there is little emotional resonance in the story.

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63

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

The tone of The Soloist is wildly uneven. Though unsparing and unsentimental when framing the principals, Wright is hyperbolic when depicting the agitation of the mentally ill and the soothing rapture of music.

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63

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The Soloist has all the elements of an uplifting drama, except for the uplift.

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60

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

The film is imperfect, periodically if unsurprisingly sentimental, overly tidy and often very moving.

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50

The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson

The result feels cluttered, overcooked, and underfelt.

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50

Slate Dana Stevens

It's a handsomely mounted spectacle with moments of bravura acting that nonetheless feels labored and dull.

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50

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

For all its sensitivity to the horrors of mental illness, The Soloist ends up as a fairly canned piece of work.

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50

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

As a drama, The Soloist is stuck before it starts.

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50

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Like the prototypical "Shine," this is a film that romanticizes mental illness.

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50

Village Voice Ella Taylor

Foxx and Downey's disciplined duet come close to redeeming The Soloist from its visual excesses, but Wright leaves us with a parting shot of the dancing homeless that shamelessly exploits the very people he means to champion.

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50

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

With all the hallmarks of a prestige picture, chief among them a great cast and creative crew and an "important" message, The Soloist plays its tune with a frequently heavy hand.

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50

Variety Todd McCarthy

Has moments of power and imagination, but the overworked style and heavy socially conscious bent exude an off-putting sense of self-importance, making for a picture that's more of a chore than a pleasure to sit through.

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50

New York Magazine David Edelstein

The movie is a noble enterprise, and Downey is stupendous as usual, but Joe Wright's direction is too slick to elicit much feeling.

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40

New York Daily News Joe Neumaier

It's hard to talk about The Soloist without falling into cliches, because this well-meaning but ham-handed drama is full them.

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40

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

By consistently and relentlessly overplaying everything, by settling for standard easy emotions when singular and heartfelt was called for, by pushing forward when they should have pulled back, director Joe Wright and screenwriter Susannah Grant have made the story mean less, not more. Instead of enhancing The Soloist's appeal, they have come close to eliminating it.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 43 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Susan S. gave it a10:
This is one of the best films I saw in 2009. I'm sorry it got so little reception and that most of the critics did not seem to know how to handle it. Anyone who has worked, lived with or been close to someone with schizophrenia will probably be deeply moved by this movie. This is not a film of easy answers. But it's subject matter is not easy. It's not A Beautiful Mind or Shine, where the characters are suddenly transformed by the power of music or math or whatever. It deals with the reality of schizophrenia and homelessness, which are both terrifying, dizzying, and messy issues that cannot be solved with one helping hand and musical instrument. The acting, writing, and directing are amazing, as is the cinematography (the first sequence on skid row and an "internal" light show are particularly notable). I went into this film unsure about it, as the previews depicted it as one of those feel good inspirational stories, but was totally blown away. To think that films like Up in the Air and Avatar are stealing all the acclaim for 2009 and this film is getting left in the dust is heartbreaking. It's truly a masterpiece.

Lois M. gave it an8:
Don't pay attention to those who say this is boring or too sad; they are the same people who don't like any film unless someone is getting shot or raped. This is a great slice of real life film telling a real story; it features great acting by Downey, Foxx and Keener and wonderful cinematography.

Winston L. gave it a10:
Foxx and Downey Jr. are on my Oscar-watch.

k S. gave it a9:
Deeply moving film, made more so by knowing Downey's life story, so as a background to what we watch, we know that the actor had to face comparably difficult inner demons. Very strong performances.

Kevin V. gave it a2:
Downey Jr. is excellent, and the story is interesting, but The Soloist is plagued by excessive cliques and an overall lack of purpose. It's a shame to see such a great cast go to waste.

Dia C gave it a9:
I knew nothing about this film before I saw it, so it caught me completely off guard and, quite unexpectedly, moved me deeply. Brilliantly understated acting by both Foxx and Downey complemented some truly extroardinary scenes of homeless life in LA that delivered a punch to my solar plexus like Dante's Inferno. Every scene in the film rang true, INCLUDING (although those with less experience with the mentally ill might disagree) the scenes in which Nathaniel was suddenly less than gracious. At the end, I was left with a feeling that although the story might revolve around Ayers, the true journey it depicts is actually that of Steve Lopez and his awakening from a bitter, sardonic anything-for-a-story newspaperman to a kinder, more sensitive human being with a solid awareness regarding the plight of hundreds of thousands of Americans. Outstanding work! I definitely look forward to reading the book.

Ryan S gave it a9:
A very sad movie about a schizophrenic musician and the reporter who writes about him. Seems quite authentic and the acting is great.

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