The Soloist
Short description
Steve Lopez is a columnist for a Los Angeles newspaper who is short on material and unhappy in his personal life when he meets Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless man living on the streets of the city. Nathaniel, who once studied at a prestigious music conservatory, plays a battered instrument with remarkable skill, and a connection forms between the two men through their shared love of music. Lopez begins writing about him, and what starts as a story gradually becomes an attempt to help Nathaniel, even as he struggles with mental illness and with Lopez's efforts to shape his future.
Joe Wright directed the film, which came after his earlier features Pride & Prejudice and Atonement in his filmography. Susannah Grant wrote the screenplay, and the cast includes Robert Downey Jr. as Lopez, Jamie Foxx as Ayers, Catherine Keener, Tom Hollander, Nelsan Ellis and Michael Bunin. It is based on a true story.
The film was released in April 2009 and runs 117 minutes. Made for about 60 million dollars, it took in roughly 38 million at the worldwide box office, a return below its production cost. On IMDb it holds 6.7 out of 10 from around 57,000 votes, and on TMDB it also stands at 6.7 from a much smaller number of votes. A critics' rating of 6.2 from just over 200 reviews places it somewhat lower than the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Several members of the Los Angeles-based charity Lamp Community, which assists the homeless and people with mental illness, appeared in episodic roles in the film, attended its premiere, and the party held after it. Nathaniel Ayers himself is under the care of this organization and receives regular assistance from them.
- Part of the scenes were filmed in one of the areas of Los Angeles, Skid Row, known as the largest haven for homeless people in the country.
- In the film, Steve Lopez is depicted as divorced, although in reality, the reporter has been in a happy and successful marriage throughout his life. According to the journalist himself, he found this rather strange, but he considered it much more important how accurately his articles and professional activities were portrayed.
- Most of the homeless people shown in the film did not actually have any permanent shelter.
- In the scene where Nathaniel Ayers and Steve Lopez attend a concert rehearsal, all the seats are covered with tarps. This approach is a common practice in many concert halls during rehearsals, as it is believed to produce a cleaner sound.
- This isn't the first time Robert Downey Jr. has played a real-life newspaper reporter in a film. Previously, he portrayed Paul Avery, a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, in "Zodiac" (2007).
- The plot is based on the true story of musician Nathaniel Ayers. The career of the young cello virtuoso Ayers is interrupted when he develops schizophrenia. Many years later, a journalist from the Los Angeles Times learns about the homeless musician, and their communication results in a series of articles.
- Despite his consistent dislike of being filmed, Nathaniel Ayers attended the film's premiere in Los Angeles with his family, who had flown in for the occasion. He himself rarely watches television or movies.
- The filmmakers invited Nathaniel Ayers to visit the set at Walt Disney Central Hall in Los Angeles, but the musician preferred to stay outside and play there that day.
- Nathaniel Ayers himself appears in a cameo as one of the audience members, sitting in the front row, at the concert at the very end of the film.
- The film's premiere was originally scheduled for November 2008, but concerned about an overly crowded release schedule, Paramount Pictures postponed the release to April 2009.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
