The Soloist

I hope I am not alone in saying that I am ecstatic that The Soloist is finally coming out on Friday; considering that the film was due out initially in November I think it is long overdue. Honestly, while I am a Robert Downey Jr. junkie I have to say that he is not the primary reason I want to see The Soloist - Joe Wright is.

Joe Wright has not been working in the world of feature film for that long. As a director Wright hit the scene with 2005’s Pride & Prejudice. This was a film from a first-time director and it went on to garner four Oscar nominations. None of these nominations were for the director himself, but that is impressive nonetheless.

Wright did not experience a sophomore slump. In 2007 Wright followed up Pride & Prejudice with another English period piece in Atonement.

Atonement lit the critics and audiences on fire. When awards season rolled around Atonement walked away with an Oscar for Best Score and six other nominations including Best Picture. The film was just as visually stunning as Pride & Prejudice, had some of the most amazing performances of the year, and deserved the attention it garnered.

From the instant the trailer hit I was mesmerized and I can’t quite tell you why, other than I am a sucker for a visually appealing, character driven piece – and I think this movie is going to be that. The greatest commonality between Wrights previous films is the strength of the performances he gets out of his actors and I cannot wait to see the caliber of performance Downey and Jamie Foxx deliver; the men are two of the best actors in Hollywood today and I am sure that they will be spellbinding.

Needless to say I will be at the movies Friday night, and I really hope that the movie is as good as I hope, I have been waiting for it since November…plus I really want an excuse to buy the poster.