"Goodbye Solo" is a quiet gem (4/5)

Written and directed by Ramin Bahrani, "Goodbye Solo" details the relationship that develops between a taxi driver named Solo and a random passenger named William. The relationship begins with William asking Solo to be his driver in a few weeks. Solo is apprehensive when he finds out that William only wants to be dropped off and not picked up at a unique location.

Through this interaction, Solo and William strike up what is almost an odd couple relationship. William is an old, white southern gentleman while Solo is a Senegalese 30 year old male with a budding family. William is played with reserved anguish by Red West, while Solo is played with great charm by Souleymane Sy Savane. Both are opposites of one another, but both eventually need each other as they fill a void in each other's lives.

William represents the discipline that Solo desperately needs, while Solo represents the love for life that William has come to loss. With a lesser writer and director, this relationship would sink into sentimentality, and a we would all learn a valuable lesson in the vain of "Full House." But, Bahrani is above that as he creates a relationship between two men that is sincere and full of understanding. Both know where the other wants to go and both understand what it takes to get there, its just a matter of whether or not they want to reach one another. And where a more sentimental film boasts big emotional scenes and acts of endearment, Bahrani and his actors are more in tune with the smaller, quiet moments that may not hit you at the time, but come on strong once the credits roll.

And thats the beauty of "Goodbye Solo", its built on those quiet, small moments we have with people. Sure, its much more memorable to go for broke on one scene and deliver an Oscar worthy crying scene, but we have to remember our lives are strung together by small little threads. If anything "Goodbye Solo" is representative of real life, where the small moments should be appreciated just as much as those big, life altering turns.