Watch "The Soloist"

My husband and I just finished watching "The Soloist", the story of Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Jr. originally of Cleveland, an accomplished cellist and violinist who struggles with schizophrenia and at one time lived on the streets of Los Angeles.

Ayers is played by Jamie Foxx, who gives an outstanding performance. Robert Downey Jr. plays Steve Lopez, a Los Angeles Times reporter who discovered Ayers playing one day in an open park. After getting close to him, Lopez starts writing about Ayers in his column.

Over a period of one year, Lopez befriends Ayers, manages to get him off the street and helps him have a better life, while also reuniting him with the sister he hasn't seen in years. Throughout the year, Lopez continues to write about Ayers in his column. It is these columns that eventually form his book about Ayers, which was ultimately turned into the movie Soloist.

The whole time I was watching this movie, I couldn't help but think about all the other homeless people out there and the stories they might have to tell. I was reminded of a Native American man who begs on the streets of New York. I haven't seen him in probably 7 or 8 years, since I no longer go into New York during the day on business. But I remember his long braided grey hair like it was yesterday. He always seemed so normal to me and I remember coming very close once to asking him, 'Why are you here?' If there ever was a person who was my "soloist", it would be him.

Anyway, if you want to be completely moved, watch this movie.

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.