The movie “Goodbye Solo” is perfect for your garden-variety film festival crowd. That is, only if the crowd is composed of family members of director Ramin Bahrani and writer Bahareh Azimi, those eligible for social security (indeed, there were many gray heads in the audience), and those with very slow-paced lives who like their entertainment to follow suit. Every chapter in the film is drawn out to its maximum value. Each new scene seems to contain at least a 30 second pause where no one is speaking out of which every last drop of tension is squeezed. That’s not to say that all silences are bad; oftentimes, they make the movie. But when they are applied this frequently it gives the movie a feeling of deliberation, and breaks up the flow of the plot.
That said, “Goodbye Solo” has a few significant redeeming qualities. One of those is the production quality, which is much higher than that of your typical independently-produced film. The misty fog and vivid red autumn leaves make the cinematography in the last mountain scene somewhat breathtaking. The film has impeccable lighting and sound overall, and moderately good acting (especially on the part of Souleymane Sy Savane, who plays Solo).
Another positive is the utterly original storyline. Set in the misty, almost surreal foothills and mountains of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the film follows the testy relationship between two men who met in a cab ride and happen to be polar opposites. William (Red West) is an old man from the South who epitomizes the heartless, unreachable, rough hewn cowboy. Solo is a relentlessly happy Senegalese cab driver whose only aim in life is to please the people around him, whether it is William, his customers, or his angry Mexican wife, Navani (Navani Reyes). Although the characters themselves are stereotypes, their combination presents an entirely unique situation. William has hired Solo to drive him to the top of the Great Smoky Mountains on Oct. 20 and to leave him there for the pretty sum of $1,000. At first his reasons for taking this highly unusual trip are clouded. As the movie goes on, though, William’s shockingly tragic reasons for taking the trip become clearer and clearer. Solo observes with growing anxiety as the old man gives away his things, closes his bank accounts, and makes numerous indirect attempts at reconciling himself with his grandson before he leaves the world behind.
Not knowing what to do, Solo responds by trying to befriend William and ultimately prevent him from going. However, he is met repeatedly with harsh and unyielding resentment. The dynamics between the two main characters – Solo’s incessant friendliness followed by William’s steadfast rejection – are dramatic and occasionally amusing, and represent a pattern that is repeated throughout. This relationship motif is solid enough motif to carry the first few scenes, but it gets old fast. When it comes down to it, there simply isn’t enough chemistry or emotional shift between the two to sustain an entire movie.
The conclusion (or lack thereof) leaves audiences yearning for something undefinable that never quite came to full fruition. All along, the storyline intimates that these two men need each other to get along in a harsh world. There is no evidence, however, that this ever really happens. Throughout the movie, William remains staunchly alone, refusing to shift his position and accept Solo’s friendship. Solo never gets a much-deserved response to his own pleasant demeanor. In a way it is the lack of events, combined with an excess of exhausting, contemplative pauses in the dialogue that drags the film down.
The film “Goodbye Solo” has the ability to incite and sustain anticipation in the audience, but in the end we – like William – are never moved.
