Spoiler

If you haven't seen The Soloist yet and don't want any part of it ruined, then you probably shouldn't read this.

I saw this movie a couple of weekends ago and was impressed but not in the way that I expected. I think this was a risky movie to make in that it could have been very typical: lost talent in the form of a mentally ill homeless man is rediscovered and brought to fruition through the help of a complete stranger. The fact that it's based on a true story is certainly inspiring, but the movie could still be a big flop. I think many viewers (myself included) could sit there waiting for a predictable happy ending: Ayers gets medicated, gets himself off the streets, and plays professionally again. But that's not what happens because that's not real-life.

Speaking of real, this movie was a little too real for me at certain points. I cried at 2 parts, and no, it wasn't during the part when Lopez gives Ayers the cello and he plays in the tunnel or when Ayers gets into Juilliard. There's a very tender-hearted flashback which shows Ayers's mother coming down to the basement where her son sleeps. In so many words, she tells him that music is his way out of that neighborhood. It reminded me so much of my students and their situations; no one really says it, but if a student can go to LaVilla instead of Butler (sorry, truth hurts) because of their artistic talents, that's their ticket out. What also got me were various scenes of the Lamp Community with all its homeless.

Though uncomfortable at times, what made this movie a success, in my eyes, was its real-ness. There was no happy ending, no predictable moral. One of its unexpected lessons was the importance of meeting people where they are and moving forward with them from that point. We spend so much time trying to tell other people what they should do or think or be. We project ourselves onto each other, as if our own life with all its ideals and experiences is THE way to live. Lopez went through that with Ayers, and in the end (if there is an end), he realized that he couldn't change Ayers because that's not what Ayers wanted or needed.

Bonus: I was SO happy that this movie brought classical music to the general public through the medium of film. I'm hoping it instilled some music appreciation. The cinematography in conjunction with the music was incredible.

Sidenote: I set aside my not-so-secret crush on Robert Downey Jr. while writing this post.