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Foxx And Downey Jr. Bring Compassion to Homeless Tale |
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Written by BARRY BRECHEISEN
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Tuesday, 11 August 2009 |
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Sometimes even with the biggest stars of the planet as your lead actors a film can miss finding their audience. That’s exactly what happened with The Soloists, a film based on a true story about a musical gifted homeless man and the journalist who tries to help him find his way back into society. The critically acclaimed film stars Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. and came out earlier this year but quickly disappeared. Perhaps it was bad timing (coming out just one week before the big summer films) or perhaps people just weren’t interested in seeing Downey Jr. in a non-action movie. Regardless, the film is now out on DVD and Blu-ray and you have a second chance to judge for yourself.
When Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) has a chance encounter with a homeless man in the streets of Los Angeles, he has no idea their lives would be intertwined and changed forever. Lopez, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, soon finds out that this man, Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx), was once a student at New York’s Juilliard School on a scholarship in music. What starts out as just a column soon becomes a quest of Lopez to see if he can help make a difference. Lopez soon learns that this might not be as easy as he hopes. Trying to help Ayers regain his musical passions is one thing but winning against the mental illness of schizophrenia is still another.
The Soloists is one of those films that may make you think the next time you decide to ignore a homeless person on the street. It’s not a perfect film yet a film that deserved more attention then it got earlier this year.
Extras
First up we have a wonderful commentary track by the director Joe Wright. Through the course of the film he gives us great insight from the making of the film, the themes, locations and even detailed technical information. It’s great to listen to in future viewings of the film and is for anyone who is a fan of film making. An Unlikely Friendship: Making 'The Soloist is an almost twenty minute featurette on the making of the film including the real life people it is based on. Kindness, Courtesy and Respect: Mr. Ayers + Mr. Lopez features the real Nathaniel Ayers, Steve Lopez, and Ayers' sister Jennifer who tell us in their own words their account of the facts. One Size Does Not Fit All: Addressing Homelessness in Los Angeles is an almost ten minute feature about the real life homeless in Los Angles. There is also a short feature entitled Juilliard: The Education of Nathaniel Ayers, an animated short dealing with homeless called Beth's Story and five deleted scenes.
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