Vicki and I saw the movie The Soloist. There is so much to love about this movie. Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. are two of our finest actors and they live up to their reputations in The Soloist. Jamie Foxx may well receive an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Nathaniel Ayers. Nathaniel Ayers is living on the streets plagued by mental illness. Downey Jr. plays the role of LA Times newspaper columnist Steve Lopez who encounters Nathaniel Ayers (Foxx) on the streets and discovers that he is a brilliant cellist who drops out of Julliard because of his mental illness. Lopez befriends Ayers and a beautiful story emerges.
Here are some things that I love about this movie;
1. The music is excellent (I have been a fan of Classical Music for the last twenty years).
2. I love true stories.
3. The acting is excellent.
4. The movie uses real homeless people as actors in this movie.
5. Lopez discovers life in his pursuit to care for the marginalized.
We saw this movie after spending some time with homeless people (something that always makes me feel alive and whole) so the scenes of homeless community celebration at the end of the movie was very beautiful.
Here are some things that I really disliked about this movie;
1. In real life Steve Lopez is married, has been for many years. In the movie they show him divorced from his wife. WHY? Those involved in the movie said it was to show the isolation of Lopez' character. Duh, you can do that within a marriage relationship - it happens all the time. The good things is that they reconcile by the end of the movie. You can still accomplish the same thing within a marriage relationship - it happens all the time. Big issue for me -> Marriage mostly gets a bad rap in Movies and TV.
2. In the movie, Lopez arranges for Ayers to have a Los Angeles Philharmonic cellist who attempts to rehabilitate Ayers. This characters name is Graham Claydon and he is a stereotype evangelical Christian who is a butthead. This movie is based on a true story... in real life there is no Graham Claydon who is a overzealous and judgmental Christian. This is a made up character. WHY? Someone was interested in portraying the typical media stereotype of the self-righteous Christian. Lopez behaves like a Christian but is not portrayed as a Christian. It makes me upset but it also reminds me that Christians have primarily created this stereotype - unfortunately.
Overall, I highly recommend this movie. The last several scenes remind me of the joy found in the Upside Down Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
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