Talking About Crushed Hopes and Dreams
The moment journalist Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr) catches sight of homeless Nathaniel Anthony Ayers (Jamie Foxx) playing violin on the street of LA, he knows that he is a story, in a world where no one longer finds stories different enough to read.
But Nathaniel’s story is a story with a lots of full stops. As Lopez said, Nathaniel is shy in our first encounter. It takes more than sessions of questions and answers to know about Nathaniel, his cello and Beethoven, his dreams, and the shouting match ongoing in his mind: a story so perfect that it will make you doubt your own conscience when you read it.
Nathaniel is gifted and he only has one dream. The dream stays the same even when fate decides he should end up on the street with a two-stringed violin instead of in a concert hall.
One day I asked him about his hopes and dreams. That’s easy, he said. I’d like to get these other two strings.
Blame his schizophrenic mind. Maybe blame the unforgiving fate. Life isn’t fair, is it? His mother once said: You know what I hear when you play your music. I hear the voice of God coming.. You got something special here, baby. A way out. There is a whole world waiting for you. But, unfortunately, everything ends up not just as it should be.
The Soloist illustrates how Lopez rides the roller coaster of not only interacting 
, but also developing a relationship with Nathaniel. Not seldom he has to deal with his own frustration of being unable to comprehend Nathaniel and his actions.
Look for a different movie if you’re looking for one with a happy ending, or maybe at least a logical explanation. Perhaps, as what I feel when I watch The Soloist, you can not stop telling yourself: Come on, can’t at least life starts being fair to him? But maybe it does. Nathaniel is anyway a simple man. Remember, he once only dreams of having a complete set of strings for his violin.
I tell him that this is no place for him. He says he wants to be here. He says it’s his choice. Should I take him on his word or should I force him inside? Wouldn’t a little arm twisting be more humane than leaving him here, on the streets, in this lost colony of broken helpless souls?
For Lopez, everything finally becomes as clear as a day when he accepts who Nathaniel truly is. Well, who is he anyway, to hold the power of deciding what’s best for Nathaniel’s happiness? Maybe Nathaniel does regard Lopez as his God. But is he?
Some said that it’s totally a wrong decision of choosing Lopez as the main character in this movie. Some said the story would go better if only Nathaniel is the protagonist. But for me, it is through him that we can fully feel the complex character of Nathaniel. It is through his reactions and endless monolog along the movie that we see who Nathaniel Anthony Ayers is.
The Soloist is moving. It’s uplifting. And truly a showcase of talents from Downey, and especially Jamie Foxx. ♣♣♣♣♣ for Joe Wright and the actual Steve Lopez, without whom this story would fail to enrich our soul.
