I keep forgetting about The Soloist, a November release starring Robert Downey, Jr. as a reporter who discovers a schizophrenic homeless musical prodigy (Jamie Foxx) with dreams of playing Frank Gehry’s gleaming metal Walt Disney Concert Hall. It’s the blatant ‘prestige picture’ tag that throws me, which is compounded by the fact that Atonement‘s Joe Wright is directing. The story is based on a series of LA Times columns by Steve Lopez, which eventually became the book The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music. RDJ plays Lopez, and while I can see the persuasive, touching nature of the story on the page, I’m terrified of the potential for unbearable treacle on screen, even with Downey and Foxx in the primary roles.
But the supporting cast is a little wild — Stephen Root, Tom Hollander and Catherine Keener? Why not? Cinematical points to the first picture from the flick, up on USA Today.