The Soloist

There is a lot about humans that cannot be understood. People, incapable of functioning on the normal level as the rest of the world are still capable of experiencing the most beautiful pieces of artistic inspiration on levels that most people could never imagine. The Soloist, starring Jaime Foxx and Robert Downey Jr, is inspired by a true story about broken man (Foxx) suffering from schizophrenia but finding moments of clarity through the music of Ludwig Von Beethoven.

Though Foxx’s Nathaniel Ayers loves classical music, it is a modern musician who provides the perfect mindset with which to view this film. Leonard Cohen sings in “Anthem” that there is a crack in everything that lets the light shine in. In The Soloist, the light shines down on Ayers, a man living on the streets of Los Angeles who is found by journalist Steve Lopez (Downey). Ayers is one of society’s countless forgotten and Lopez is employed by a dying industry; both find new life through music at the crossroads of their shattered lives.

This is a pattern of discovery that replicates through time. The history of the world has been built upon the destroyed lives of others. In the wake of progress, artistic endeavors have risen to buoy those moving forward. Heartache and turmoil have been an inspiration to some of the most beautiful pieces of art and music ever conceived. Those pieces continue to inspire broken souls like Ayers who find refuge in the inspirations of other souls throughout history.

Music is the true star of The Soloist. The human drama is heartfelt, but nothing that hasn’t been done before and better in countless other films. But this movie will linger because Beethoven lingers, Mozart lingers, music and art lingers in our collective minds. When the world breaks down as it always does, it is the gifted soul who can look through the cracks and illuminate for the rest of the world the beauty that continually attempts to grow.