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Student
Danielle Howell
GSW 1100
5 December 2014
Movie Critique of The Soloist
When looking at movies it can be hard to completely understand the full purpose of the
film. As a viewer of a film, sometimes only getting a few laughs or one suspenseful plot twist
can make someone consider it a great movie. But when you only have so many genres to choose
from, a lot of the same things happen in some movies. Thus it takes true creativity to keep
viewers enthralled and for the film to still be a great movie. It also takes certain people to be able
to see true creativity in a film. The average person is not able to breakdown a movie to find the
true greatness in the movie, which is why we rely on cinema critics. Even if the movie was
slightly entertaining to watch, cinema critics are able to see the tiny flaws in the film that normal
people cant. Movie critic Rodger Ebert displays an effective review on the movie The Soloist at
rodgerebert.com, because he is able to find the true meaning of the movie in the slightest details,
gives his personal opinion, and understands what the music means and how it relates to the
movie. The way Rodger shows his skills as a writer is in his critique, he knows what he is talking
about and has shown his skills in this critique.
Ebert does an impeccable job at finding the true meaning of the film by looking only at
the slightest details. This is important as a film critic because finding small details could change
the complete review of a movie. If he were able to find a flaw in the script or plot, it would be
harmful against the writer of the film. If an actor broke character or messed up a line the

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performance could go from a box office hit to mediocre. When looking at the movie The Soloist,
finding the tiny details although difficult for most people to see, was obvious for Rodger Ebert.
He says that when watching the movie he found that the film makers did not know themselves
what they wanted the viewer to feel, and the fact that it was based on a true story Ebert thought it
would be more compelling. Giving a quick summary of the plot shows that the true story and
events that took place were extremely convincing. Ebert says:
As the film opens, Lopez is troubled. His marriage has problems, he feels burned
out at work, he's had a bike accident. He encounters Ayers almost outside the
Times building, attracted by the beautiful sounds he's producing on a violin with
only two strings. The man can play. Lopez tries to get to know him, writes a first
column about him, learns he once studied cello at Juilliard. A reader sends Lopez
a cello for him (this actually happened), and the columnist becomes his brother's
keeper. (par.4)
The fact that at the end of the movie a well know, very important critic did not know the purpose
of the movie shows that the film was disappointing. Without calling it a bad movie Rodger Ebert
simply points out the flaws and lets the reader decide what to interpret. Eberts disappointment
was not left there, when the writers tried to explain madness, it seem to lack originality. They
didnt give a view through the eyes of the mad man Nathaniel, which is what was done in the
movie A Beautiful Mind. Rodger said he would have been pleased with the writers acting on
this idea because it would have brought more to the character and to the whole movie. These
details in the movie although small were very important in Eberts decision in the critique. These
details pointed out the flaws in the movie making it and effective critique.

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When reviewing the movie, he strongly voices his opinions that although most parts of
the movie that make it a good film are present, the characters are not interesting. This shows how
well he breaks down the characters in the film. He looks at the fine detail, looking deep into the
characters and how the actors represent them. When watching The Soloist Ebert offers an
unbiased opinion on the actors in the film. He said the actors did an impeccable job of expressing
their characters to the fullest of their capabilities. In the critique Rodger Ebert never blames the
actors for any of the unamusing characters in the movie, he gave the blame to the person who
was at fault, the writer. He points out his flaws while not bashing on his ideas and words.
Focusing on the actors in his evaluation Rodger Ebert says, That is no fault of Jamie Foxx's
performance creating a man who is tense, fearful, paranoid and probably schizophrenic. We can
almost smell his terror, through the carnival clown clothing and hats he hides behind. (par. 3).
Ebert notes that Jamie Fox does a fantastic job of being able to make sure all parts of the
character were there and perfecting the lines he was given. When talking about the film director
he has other words of expression, Unfortunately, the screenwriter and director don't set up a
structure for Oscar-style elevation, nor do they really want to make a serious and doleful film
about mental illness(par. 3). In these words, Rodger Ebert puts the screen writer in his place by
stating he did not put enough effort in his work, the possibility of Jamie Foxx becoming an Oscar
nominee is improbable because of the terrible work of the writer, which is sad considering such a
great plot from a true story could be turned into such an amazing movie. By looking at all of the
characters in the cinema he can make an effective review by stating his opinions on the positives
in the film such as the incredible work of the actors, and the negatives like the writers not
making the characters interesting.

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Not only can Rodger Ebert effectively analyzes the movie and the characters, but he also
can effectively analyze the music in the movie. Since the movie is a drama and is based on a true
story, there is no amazing action scenes, technologically advance objects, or anything that would
make a viewer feel flabbergasted by what he is seeing. So not being able to talk about that
Rodger Ebert comes up with an amazing evaluation of the music selection that was chosen to
represent Nathanial Ayers. Doing this creates depth to himself as a critic making it obvious that
he is one of the greatest film critics of our time. This was a revolutionary idea, he obviously did
some research on music or had prior knowledge on it because what he states is complex and
worth the read. In his review Ebert says:
As for the music, Beethoven of course is always uplifting, but the movie doesn't
employ him as an emotional showstopper, as Debussy's "Clair de Lune" is used in
"Tokyo Sonata." There's no clear idea of what it would mean should Ayers
triumph in a public debut; would it be a life-changing moment or only an anomaly
on his tragic road through life? Can he be salvaged? Does he want to be? Or will
be always be a soloist, playing to his demons in the darkness under a bridge?
(par.8)
By the end of the movie, Rodger Ebert was not sure what the music was supposed to show in the
movie because the music selection that the writers chose was confusing and out of place. Since
Beethoven often wrote uplifting music we know it will have to deal somewhat with that emotion
but it never truly defines what it does for the character Nathanial Ayers. In doing this, Ebert
notes that it leaves a lot of holes in what the directors wanted to bring across, bringing down the
value and interest of the movie. The fact that Rodger Ebert was able to critique the music in the

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movie, made it clear that he is knowledgeable when it comes to music and being able to point out
this small flaw brings effectiveness and credibility to his review.
Some people believe that Rodger Eberts review was not effective because the movie was
better than he explained in his critique. Some say it is impossible to show insanity in the first
place so the fact that he was even expecting them to be able to show this was wrong of him.
Although some people may think this, they are wrong. Rodger Ebert is a well-known critic who
expressed his ability to be an amazing writer in this critique. The fact that he was able to state a
different movie that showed insanity through the eyes of the mad man and made it eventful to
watch shows that there is at least some way of showing insanity, thus proving views that think
otherwise wrong. Also Eberts standpoint on the music in the movie shows that he is
knowledgeable about films and music, proving he is an effective critic.
Movie critic Rodger Ebert displays an effective review through the knowledge he has on
the movie The Soloist at rodgerebert.com, he was able to state the good and bad details in the
movie, break down characters through the lines in the script made by the writer and evaluate the
actors that played them, as well as understanding what the music meant and how it relates to the
movie. Throughout his review he does not fail to show his skills as a writer, going deep into all
the aspects of the film and elaborating on each and every moment. This shows without a doubt
that Rodger Eberts review on the film The Soloist was effective and spot on for what he
received out of viewing the movie.
Dear -,
I know you worked really hard on this draft, and your effort definitely shows and paid off! You
did a good job addressing the issues that were present in the rough draft, and the essay is much
stronger as a result! You did a great job of changing the focus to be on the actual movie review
rather than the movie itself. There are a few small parts where you stray a little off topic, but this
does not hurt the overall evaluation/analysis of the movie review. You go into a lot of detail in

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your evaluation/analysis paragraphs and doing so helps illustrate your ideas and argument. I
believe that your progress throughout the course and on this draft demonstrates that you are
ready for GSW 1120. This is a passing paper. Keep up the progress and good work! Also,
good work on limiting your use of second person pronouns in this paper!

Works Cited
Ebert, Rodger, Mr. "The Soloist Movie Review & Film Summary (2009) | Roger Ebert." All
Content. N.p., Apr.-May 2009. Web. 05 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-soloist-2009>.
"The Soloist." IMDb. IMDb.com, Mar.-Apr. 2009. Web. 05 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0821642/>.