Downey, Foxx make for a great duet in preachy 'Soloist'

"The Soloist" hits enough right notes that we forgive all the screechy ones.

Based on a moving true story, the film documents the friendship between a star columnist for the Los Angeles Times and a schizophrenic homeless man who also happens to be a Juilliard-trained classical musician.

That setup has Oscar bait written all over it, especially when you add acting heavyweights Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx to the mix. But the film, directed by Oscar nominee Joe Wright ("Atonement"), is an uneven affair, one that delivers some beautiful moments, then veers into the kind of overwrought melodrama you'd expect to see on the Hallmark channel. Thankfully, the beautiful moments carry the day.

Downey plays Steve Lopez, an L.A. Times writer who's lost faith in his profession, his city and humanity in general. One day he hears violin music rising above the urban din of Los Angeles, and then he sees who's responsible: Nathaniel Ayers (Foxx), a muttering homeless man playing a violin that has just two strings.

Lopez notices two things right away about Nathaniel. First, Nathaniel is mentally ill. Second, he's a gifted musician. When Nathaniel tells Lopez that he once attended the Juilliard School, Lopez realizes there's a column in all this. His first piece about Nathaniel gets a huge response from readers, one of whom sends a cello to Lopez and asks that he give it to Nathaniel.

Lopez does, but he tells Nathaniel that he must keep it at a housing center in the skid row area of downtown L.A. Nathaniel resists at first - he enjoys playing music in wide-open outdoor spaces - but eventually agrees to meet Lopez at the center.

From there, the relationship between the two men falls into a pattern. Lopez tries to improve Nathaniel's life - he gets him an apartment, arranges for cello lessons - and Nathaniel goes along, even while some suggest that Nathaniel needs a friend more than a savior.

In the meantime, Lopez's columns about Nathaniel win awards, giving some fresh life to a newspaper that's trying to save money by firing writers. (We see and hear fired reporters being ushered out of the building while Lopez discusses the columns with his editor.) The attention is nice, but it makes Lopez question whether he's actually helping Nathaniel, or just exploiting him.

"The Soloist" works best when it focuses squarely on the two lead characters, brought to life so well by Downey and Foxx. Downey is particularly good, using his expressive eyes and attention-deficit speech patterns to convey the pain and doubt inside his character's mind. Foxx occasionally goes overboard with his homeless schtick - the unkempt hair, the stream of consciousness muttering - but when his character either plays or listens to music, the simple look of joy that Foxx puts on his face is heartbreaking.

The film is less successful, though, when it tries to tackle Issues (note the big capital "I") like mental illness and homelessness. The dialogue tends to preach in these scenes, and director Wright's depiction of skid row verges on freakishness, as one half-crazed drug addict after another passes in front of the camera. Wright, who is British, gives a theatrical bent to America's problems, and that blunts the film's effectiveness as social commentary.

My advice would be this: When watching "The Soloist," tune out all the extraneous noise and just enjoy the beautiful music that Downey and Foxx make together.

"The Soloist"

Rating: 3 stars

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jamie Foxx, Catherine Keener

Directed by: Joe Wright

Other: A Paramount Pictures release. Rated PG-13 for drug use, language. 109 minutes.