The Soloist - Homeless Folks Just Seem Crazy

Every time you see a homeless person on the street acting strangely, you might have second thoughts as to how that person reached that destination. The Soloist is an introspective film that delves into the life and times of Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a once promising student of the Julliard School of Music. Until meeting LA Times writer Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.), Ayers was nothing more than your seemingly odd homeless man ranting off in strange fashions. 

Ayers was what you would call a prodigy in the realm of music. His ability to channel his energy into playing musical instruments like the cello is unlike anything one would ever see. Ayers's musical talent was offset by his slow development in schizophrenia as his mind would unfold in his first year at Julliard. One fateful day arose when Lopez meets Ayers in the street as he performs his musical talents. At first, Lopez wants nothing more than to find a hot new story of the paper, but many of his readers begin to help bring awareness to the fact that being homeless does not equate to not being a human being. Ayers comes off as socially distanced but he becomes coherent as patience is the key to understanding how he thinks. Foxx and Downey Jr. make a complimenting combo of on-screen talent with their range of showing the depth of each character.

The most interesting element of the movie was in the Extras features where you learn about the making of the film. The realism in the world of the homeless is surreal as many extras were true homeless persons. Their ability to convey themselves as normal folks is as simple as their discussing of interests and mental psyche. The elements of The Soloist was somewhat similar to Reign Over Me (Adam Sandler, Don Cheadle) though in a different  frame of mental breakdowns. I recommend this film to anyone looking to learn about the little explored realm of homelessness.

I Love You, Man - The Story Of Man-Dating

There's always that one guy you know that has spent his whole life in relationships - but manages to have no close guy friends. If this sounds like someone you know, I Love You, Man is probably the closest thing to a documentary for guys like that.

I Love You, Man stars Paul Rudd and Jason Segel, regulars among anything made by Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, 40-Year Old Virgin). Rudd's character, Peter, is about to get married but realizes that he doesn't have a single male friend that he could have as a best man. In times of need, he considers man-dating, the almighty ritual of making new male friends. In Peter's hilarious attempts to reach out and make a new friend or two, he comes across Segel's character, Sydney.

This flick does a great job of showing the little known world of man-dating as most guys would know, trying to meet new male friends is pretty hard especially when there's effort involved. Unlike dating, making friends isn't exactly something many people set out on a mission for. The great supporting cast of familiar faces is a good enough reason to check out this off-beat comedy.

Blindness - When Things Go All White

I'm finally back with something new to review; my procrastination never seems to wane. Everybody loves a good "what if" film and Blindness goes to a new level previously untouched. What would happen if everyone in the world were to go blind in a sea of white? This is exactly what happens as Julianne Moore stars in this film about the world coping with a blindness epidemic.

The origin, explanation and cause of the widespread blindness is never explained because the film deals more with the sociological impacts of blindness. As more and more people are afflicted with being blind, they are slowly moved to a concentrated area in hopes of isolating the problem. This is all a waste of time as the entire world is affected with the only known person who can still see, Julianne Moore's character as the Doctor's Wife, inside the concentration camp. As more people are placed into the camp, we learn how civility ceases to exist and mob rule takes over.

The split between differing mentalities forms between the civil and those that are willing to exploit what they can. The exploiters are partially headed by a man born with blindness who seems to do just fine in the circumstances. When the uncivil decide to seize the food that comes into the camp, they make their demands, first valuable possessions, then the lust for women. This is probably the most disturbing part of the film as we see just how unforgiving some can be despite their disabilities.

Blindness is effective in showing how much we take for granted, especially for those of us who have vision. Compassion is absent in those who have lived without vision and we see just how far some are willing to go to take advantage. I recommend watching Blindness as an eye-opening experience but its probably not worth watching more than one time.