The Soloist

WARNING: SPOILER! If you haven't seen this movie and would like to do so without knowing how it turns out, read no further!

(Written February 3rd)

I went to see "The Soloist" (Robert Downey, Jr. and Jamie Foxx) inthe only theater it's playing at in Bogotá -- Cine Colombia de la Av. Chile.
It was good, but not quite what I expected. I guess I expected redemption, reconciliation, healing... on a grand scale.
I expected the neatly-tied bow, but what I got was life. Gritty, frustration, disappointing, entangling, obligating commitment to people... And the fact that we can't go in and do some "quick fix" -- erase the damage of disease and time and sin in the world, and then pull out unscathed.

At first, the reporter just needed a story, then he wanted to help the homeless guy and take away his problems -- "fix" him and his life. When he saw it wasn't happening, he wanted out, but it was too late -- he was already in too deep.
In the end, he "settles" for relationship: a slow redemption process, perhaps.

Before I left for the theater I was talking with a woman who is in Bogotá with a visiting YWAM team who has seen the movie and felt disappointed by it for the lack of hope, healing, redemption. It's true what she says, that Jesus could miraculously heal the schizophrenic man and redeem his soul AND his life. But that doesn't always happen. In fact, most of the time it doesn't. And we can lose faith, but we can also deal with it and grow in a slow healing and redemption.
If Nathaniel Ayers (homeless) had gotten on meds, off the street, all better, and become a star celloist, then Steve López (reporter) could've pulled out of the picture, self-content, and moved on with his life.
But we need each other, as frustrating and unproductive as it can be.

A quote from the movie, scribbled on the back of my ticket stub in the dark theater... it speaks what I often think, hope, and pray for the street people, addicts, and prostitutes that I see:
"I believe these children of God are gonna be okay tonight. They're gonna sleep and dream as humans do."