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The Soloist

The Soloist
SoloistPoster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Joe Wright
Produced by Gary Foster
Russ Krasnoff
Written by Susannah Grant
Based on The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music
by Steve Lopez
Starring Jamie Foxx
Robert Downey, Jr.
Catherine Keener
Tom Hollander
Lisa Gay Hamilton
Music by Dario Marianelli
Cinematography Seamus McGarvey
Edited by Paul Tothill
Production
company
Distributed by Paramount Pictures (North America)
Universal Pictures (international)
Release date
24 April 2009 (US)
11 September 2009 (UK)
Running time
117 min.
Country United States
United Kingdom
France
Language English
Budget $60 million
Box office $38.3 million

The Soloist is a 2009 British-American drama film directed by Joe Wright, and starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr.. It is based on the true story of Nathaniel Ayers, a musician who developed schizophrenia and became homeless. The screenplay by Susannah Grant is based on the book, The Soloist by Steve Lopez.

Foxx portrays Ayers, who is considered a cello prodigy, and Downey portrays Lopez, a Los Angeles Times columnist who discovers Ayers and writes about him in the newspaper. The film was released in theatres on 24 April 2009 and on DVD and Blu-ray August 5.

In 2005, Steve Lopez (Robert Downey, Jr.) is a journalist working for the L.A. Times. He is divorced and now works for his ex-wife, Mary (Catherine Keener), an editor. A biking accident lands Lopez in a hospital.

One day, he hears a cello being played beautifully. Investigating, he encounters Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a homeless man with schizophrenia, who is playing a violin when Lopez introduces himself. During the conversation that follows, Lopez learns that Ayers once attended Juilliard.

Curious as to how a former student of such a prestigious school ended up on the streets, Lopez contacts Juilliard but learns that no record of Ayers graduating from it exists. Though at first figuring a man with schizophrenia who's talented with a cello isn't worth his time, Lopez soon realizes that he has no better story to write about. Luckily, he soon learns that Ayers did attend Juilliard, but dropped out after two years.


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