The Soloist
The Soloist.
See it. Take others. It’s that good.
In The Soloist, Jamie Foxx disappears and Nathaniel Ayers consumes the screen.
As Steve Lopez, played perfectly by Robert Downey Jr., learns lessons about life and love and commitment and mental illness, the viewer learns the same.
The path is rugged, the destination somewhat surprising, the film, enthralling and illuminating.
Watch The Soloist with an open mind and an open heart, and you will learn. You will learn about dignity and differences and friendship and love. You will also learn about stigma and hopelessness and homelessness and fear. And then you will learn about respect and commitment and courage and acceptance.
You will gain a sense of how schizophrenia feels to the one diagnosed. Two particular scenes go beyond the comfort zone in an effort to offer the viewer that opportunity.
It works.
If you couldn’t empathize with the seriously mentally ill before, you will after seeing The Soloist.
And I hope you will.
April 28th, 2009 at 9:40 am
Awesome! I’ll have a look.
April 28th, 2009 at 10:10 am
i will-i was married to a man diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia. as hard as it was for me - his pain and confusion we beyond words. thanks for the heads up on the soloist.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:56 am
Thank you for a wonderful post Kate! There is a whole campaign to de-stigmatize mental illness that goes with this movie: http://www.takepart.com/thesoloist/index.php
April 28th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
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