On DVD-'Goodbye Solo'

'Goodbye Solo' (R) ***1/2


Writers: Bahareh Azimi and Ramin Bahrani
Director: Ramin Bahrani
Starring: Souleymane Sy Savane, Red West, Diana Franco Galindo

"Goodbye Solo" is a story about a friendship that develops between an African cab driver and an older man in the throes of winding his life down. It sounds simple but what writer and director Ramin Bahrani does with this as he did with his other great films "Chop Shop" and "Man Push Cart" is make the simple poetic and beautiful. The movie feels like you are eavesdropping on real life and real people. There are no fancy camera moves and no movie theatrics. This movie doesn't pretend that it is anything more than a simple independent movie without the Hollywood flash. The acting is real and unforced with a natural affecting performance by non actor Souleymane Sy Savone. I thought that the movie felt like a documentary because Savone's performance seemed lived in and like he was a real cab driver. Red West is one of those actors that you know you have seen before but not sure where. He reminds me of Richard Farnsworth and here he feels comfortable and his screen presence makes us want to follow his character. Living in North Carolina for six years I appreciated the beautiful location work in Winston Salem and Blowing Rock. The Director of Photography Michael Simmonds captures the beauty of nature in stunning shots and also captures the small town hotel, theatre and streets of Winston Salem extremely well. This movie is beautiful in it's depiction of an unusual and beautiful friendship and small town life in the beautiful South. With three movies under his belt Ramin Bahrani hasn't made a wrong step yet.