This evening I saw The Soloist starring Jamie Fox and Robert Downy Jr. I rarely write movie reviews, but something about this film pulled me towards creating this quick post.

I had not heard of Nathanial Anthony Ayers till this movie and I knew nothing of the LA Times articles from Steve Lopez. So, this was a clean slate for me.

I'm also a sucker for autobiographical films/books and tend to like many, if not all of them (Ray, Cinderella Man, Beautiful Mind, Gerogiana, etc). But oddly enough, halfway through this film I felt a disconnect.

The acting was superb, but how could it be anything less than spectacular? I was beginning to feel the gravity of this true story was minimized.

Why did I not feel the emotion? Why didn't I connect with the characters? The only thing I could pinpoint was the screenplay. But then again, was the script "hollywood-ized"? The answer is yes, and as I would soon find out, the liberties taken by the Director were clearly the wrong ones.

After the movie I read the review from the Los Angeles Times, and suddenly I understood why I had trouble with the film. As the article mentions, the psychedelic light show was not necessary (in the scene where Nathanial visits the symphony for the first time) -- and that's just one of the many little items I that bothered me.

The final nail in the coffin was the 60 Minutes piece above. It fills in the missing gaps! There's the emotion I wanted to feel for Nathanial. There's the understanding I was looking for in his plight. For me, this 14 minute piece from Morley Safer was much more touching and thorough than the movie. I'm fine with dramatization, but why didn't we see Nathanial visiting Steve's home and family? Why didn't we see the shock therapy, as mentioned in 60 Minutes?

For all it's faults, this is a movie that is worth seeing purely to support Mr. Ayers and Mr. Lopez -- and to that extent Mr. Downey Jr. and Mr. Foxx. But I can't help but think how much greater impact this film could have had on the plight of the homeless in LA, and schizophrenia.

I'm left aching to read the original LA Times articles by Steve Lopez and his book.