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  • Essay / Julliard to Skid Row: The Soloist - 708

    The book and film are both set in Los Angeles and tell the story of a homeless paranoid schizophrenic named Nathaniel Ayers. Throughout the film The Soloist directed by Joe Wright, we explain what happened to Nathaniel and his love for music; some of these events occur in the book; Steve Lopez's soloist. Nathaniel loves music but suffers from mental illness, while Mr. Lopez is a columnist for the LA Times. Although the book and the film tell the same story, it is the book that is much more effective because it gives more characterization and a more detailed plot. In the book, Nathaniel was a student at Julliard, he played the double bass. “I stayed there for a few years (..) Oh, I didn't play the violin, I played the double bass” (Lopez 38). Nathaniel lives and plays in the street with his two-stringed violin. As well as in the movie, he went to Julliard and played the double bass. Nathaniel plays the violin in front of a statue. Although in the film Nathaniel is dressed too neatly to be a homeless person, he is made out to be a psychopath and people should stay away from schizophrenics. Mr. Lopez's character in the film is a jerk to Nathaniel. It seems he doesn't want friendship with Nathaniel; he just wants to help her with her music and her mental illness. “I just needed to know that our friendship still meant something” (Lopez 264). Whereas in the book Mr. Lopez is a friend and he cares about his friendship with Nathaniel. The book follows the plot while in the film they miss key events in the lives of Nathaniel and Steve Lopez. In the book Mr. Lopez is a husband and has a daughter named Caroline “(..) while trying to be a columnist, husband and father (Lopez 95). The movie begins with Steve Lopez falling out of his middle of paper. An important scene in the film can make people think of schizophrenics as crazy and that they can't control themselves. Without reading the book, the film will probably be difficult to understand. The film does not include or go into detail about major incidents that occur in the book. Nathaniel and Steve Lopez live in two completely different worlds. Mr. Lopez thought he would just write one column about Nathaniel and be done; he didn't think he would make a new friend. Mr. Lopez reaches out to Nathaniel to try to ask for help, but he learns that he won't get better and that all he can offer is his friendship. The film misses some important scenes from the book. The movie was way too long and the scenes were all over the place. I would recommend the book as it has better details than the movie and stays true to the plot..