47 out of 47 people found the following review helpful:

A MUST SEE

BorisK from , 13th August, 2009

2009/2010 will definitely be Robert Downey Jnr's. i hope he charges alot because his acting skills are amazing. Now, this film is a definite must see. the story is very captivating and sad, the performances AMAZING. i really enjoyed this beautiful film from start to finish. it kept me glued to the big screen. i definitely recommend it

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18 out of 18 people found the following review helpful:

Not The Inspirational Movie You Would Expect

Suki1 from , 1st October, 2009

The film is titled 'The Soloist' and one will naturally assume that the film centers around Nathaniel Ayers, considering the fact that he is the one playing the violin alone in various parts of L.A. However, the film is really about Steve Lopez and how the relationship with Ayers changes him. Robert Downey Jr. offers up a fine performance as Steve Lopez - his calm and subtle performance slowly bringing out the nature (and humor) of the character Lopez, who at first sees Nathaniel simply as an interesting subject to write about. However, the more time Steve spends with Nathaniel, the more Steve wants 'fix' him and to help him succeed as a musician. This proves to be a difficult task, for both Steve and Nathaniel, and their relationship becomes quite complex. This film also introduces the idea that mentally ill people do better if they have someone, whom they trust, who takes an abiding interest in them. It also poses another very important question; should mentally ill people be forced to take medication? Would they have more freedom to decide correctly for themselves if they were first medicated? The film addresses this question but does not attempt to give an answer. This could have been one of those 'Hollywood ending' movies where everybody gets saved and although the movie does underplay the seriousness of the conditon of schizophrenia, this is not one of those 'inspirational' movies. It doesnt offer salvation and a happy end. It's an honest portrayal of a relationship with a mentally ill person and just shows that having a friend to help along the way can make the burden of mental illness easier to bear.

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7 out of 7 people found the following review helpful:

Brilliant Film

dom from Bedfordshire, 25th September, 2009

Excellent film, not to be missed. If you liked Shine or Ray then you'll enjoy this film. Really strong performances and amotionally difficult to watch at times.

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3 out of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Hits all the wrong notes

Primal from , 2nd October, 2009

I wasn't looking for inspiration (thank God) but I was looking to be engaged and entertained, which is the point of any movie, regardless of subject matter. Instead I found myself fighting hard to stay in my seat and watch it to the end, having paid eight quid to be there.

Now I don't mind Hollywood manipulating me emotionally. I don't even mind too much when I can see them doing it. But I do mind when I can see them constantly attempting yet repeatedly failing to do it, as here.

Embarassing to watch at times. An extremely poor man's Shine.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:

The Soloist.

PaulCannotThink from , 12th October, 2009

I went to see this film, all ready to be inspired and the film to be very emotion racking. However, even though it did make me want to go out and do better with my life. i felt like it never really took off. They wasn't anything in it that was super emotion racking. The film is good and the actors are good and everything bout the film seems to be perfect except, there was no defining point in the film where you realise what the motive of the Steve Lopez is. Maybe this was just because it was different from what i was expecting how ever i did feel rather disappointed i though it was going to be the movie of the year. where as it seems its just another to add to the collection.

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1 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Thought-provoking

A Customer from Maidstone, 7th October, 2009

I saw this film just today with a friend, and we discussed it a lot afterwards. We were both agreed that it gave plenty of food for thought. It seems an unlikely story to come from Hollywood, given that it raises more questions than it answers and also has no easy 'feel-good' ending. However, I imagine we'll be talking about it for a while to come. I had initially forgotten that the skid row lifestyle is probably familiar to Downey, given his past drug problems, and wonder if that was a factor in him taking the role. As with everything he does, it was excellently acted. I was shocked that Los Angeles alone has 90,000 homeless on its streets (total population estimated at 10 million). I can't even begin to conceive of those numbers as individual people...

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