Movie Review

Goodbye Solo (2009)

EW's GRADE
B+

Details Limited Release: Mar 27, 2009; Rated: Unrated; Length: 91 Minutes; Genres: Comedy, Drama; With: Souleymane Sy Savane

 Flying Solo: Souleymane Sy Savane and Red West take a ride Goodbye Solo
Flying Solo: Souleymane Sy Savane and Red West take a ride

William (Red West) is a suicidal geezer who's like a hostile old cowboy. The moment he starts to snap at Solo (Souléymane Sy Savané), a Senegalese-born taxi driver in Winston-Salem, N.C., the kind, striving, smiley-faced Solo decides to be his buddy and protector. A cynic might peg their young/old, black/white, happy/crotchety chemistry as a convention. But Goodbye Solo director, Ramin Bahrani (Chop Shop), slowly weaves the two men's lives together by stitching in little pockets of mystery, and the result is a playful, elusive movie that isn't so much heartwarming as soul-cleansing. B+

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Originally posted Apr 01, 2009 Published in issue #1042 Apr 10, 2009 Order article reprints

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