Another star turn for Jamie Foxx

The Soloist depicts the unlikely relationship between Nathaniel Ayers (played by Jamie Fox), a tramp who happens to be an exceptionally gifted musician and Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr), a L.A. columnist in need of a good story. Lopez is at first self-interested, feeding off Ayers struggles with mental illness and his past as a child prodigy to populate his columns. But gradually he gets to see past Ayers’ schizophrenia and his “circus freak” tag and genuinely starts caring for the man.

The deepening bond between the two men is one of the stand-out features of the film. Robert Downey Jr., delivers a solid performance as the morally ambiguous Lopez who tries his hand at social activism with little success. Jamie Foxx sinks his teeth in his most challenging film role since his Oscar-winning turn in the biopic Ray. Through flashbacks, we get to see him as the gifted musician Ayers once was before his illness led him to a life in the streets.

The film moves too slowly in places but the way it deals with the harsh reality of homelessness and the stigma attached to mental illness makes it socially relevant.