The Soloisttells the story of a Los Angeles homeless man, staying pretty close to the true story. The film counts the cost of helping a homeless person with serious mental illness.

The homeless man, Nathaniel Ayres (played by Jamie Foxx), is a gifted violin/cello player who is drifting because of schizophrenia and broken family bonds.

LA Times columnist Steve Lopez (Robert Downey, Jr.) writes a column about Ayres after watching him play the violin on the sidewalk. Normally he would move on to the next story. But he is pulled back to Ayres. He writes some more columns and tries to help him, only to find that Ayres doesn’t want anyone’s help. He is mentally ill and has cut off past relationships. He tests Lopez over and over, perhaps unconsciously trying to find out how much he really cares. They make small steps of progress, but this Hollywood version captures some tough truths about mental illness and the homeless.

“Often these people are very ...