01 May 2009

The Soloist

Stephanie Zacharek at Salon opens her positive review of The Soloist with a negative review of the trailer.
If you've seen the trailer for The Soloist -- in which Robert Downey Jr. plays a journalist who befriends, and tries to help, a schizophrenic and homeless man played by Jamie Foxx -- you probably think the movie is one of those uplifting friendship stories guaranteed to elicit one or two obligatory tears before sending everybody home feeling good. That's what the guys who edited that trailer want you to think: Movie advertising is never about nuance, but movies often are.

Actually, The Soloist is a triumphant movie about failure, and the best things about it can't be captured in a craftily edited trailer.

Exactly what I needed to know; I hated that trailer. But a triumphant movie about failure? If it's half as good as Little Miss Sunshine, count me in.

1 comment:

Kate said...

I thought it was twice as good as "Little Miss Sunshine." But then I love Jamie Foxx in any role and it appears that Robert Downey, Jr. has rehabilitated nicely :)