From rags to…?
Journalists seem to be slowly turning into Hollywood heroes, by the looks of it. When you have the star of Gladiator taking on the role of a hardened, idealistic newshound (in State of Play), you know something’s up, especially when you consider Russell Crowe’s very public hatred for the profession. Now we have what looks to be the man of the hour Robert Downey Jr. (having phoenix-ed his way back into the silver screen these last couple of years) snuggling up to a role as Steve Lopez, a real-life LA columnist who discovers a musical prodigy, Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx) bumming around Los Angeles’ Skid Row, playing music on a two-string cello after being kicked out of university. The columnist, struggling with stories and anxious due to cutbacks at the newspaper, sees the down-on-his luck musician’s plight as an opportunity for a story but, as Nathaniel’s schizophrenia begins to unravel, Lopez begins to develop a sense of responsibility, that could be redemptive for the journalist in more ways than one. Wright’s depiction of the Los Angeles Skid Row is especially impressive, particularly in the way it never explicitly hammers home any message about race, which would have been an incredibly facile move, given the geographical circumstances under scrutiny. It would have been very easy to ruin it with any sort of preachiness: histrionic monologues, very obvious episodes of racial discrimination etc., but Wright never allows it, letting the social conditions unravel visually. One thing you can’t say about Wright’s direction is that it lacks confidence. Especially considering how he’s coming into it from lush period dramas (Pride and Prejudice, Atonement); this feels like a gritty change of pace that’s most welcome, even if its motives are deliberate. Praise also must go to the two leads. They infuse an otherwise brittle script with vitality and charm. Downey snugs up to the role of deshevelled, amoral journalist with nearly worrying ease, but makes for enjoyable viewing and, through his perforamance alone, the film gains some sort of suspense, as we are left rooting for his altruism to come through in the end. However, a one-sided effort, no matter how brilliant, would have made for a deflated experience: luckily, Downey’s interactions with the troubled Nathaniel feel seamless. This is partly thanks to Foxx’s well-pitched depiction of the gifted schizophrenic. He is a pitiful figure, but the heartstrings are never pulled too obviously, and a dangerous edge is always looming over him, keeping our sympathies at arm’s length. What is also refreshing is that, in a film that is basically drawn from a series of newspaper articles, voiceovers are used sparingly.
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