The Soloist – 5

Ho-hum. This would’ve been a better series of newspaper columns than it was a movie; and as with all “based-on-a-true-stories,” you wondered what touches a screenwriter starting ab initio would’ve bothered including. The religious fundamentalism of the first cellist? The parlous state of the newspaper? The involvement of the L.A. mayor? None of these added much to the story; nor did the filming on location in Cleveland. Robert Downey Jr. did a credible job – much better than Tropic Thunder, for sure – but Jamie Foxx was too much a tour de force for my taste. As I said, ho-hum.