Goodbye Solo is a wonderful character study that is a masterfully made film. Two men, each very different, are pulled together in a fateful cab ride. When one seems to want to die the other makes it his mission to show the other that life is worth continuing the ride. Solo (Souleymane Sy Savane) is a cab driver in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He.s an immigrant who is married to Quiera (Carmen Leyva), who is expecting their first child, and he also has a stepdaughter named Alex (Diana Franco Galindo). Solo.s dream is not to drive a cab but to be a flight attendant and he.s studying the manual for his opportunity. One night he picks up a...
- 8/23/2009
- by Jeff Swindoll
- Monsters and Critics
Goodbye Solo -- which comes out on Lionsgate DVD on August 25 -- may seem like a fairly simple, lightweight indie movie, one of those quirky movies about a mismatched friendship. Hollywood loves movies about uptight misfits who need to be opened up and drawn out of their shell, and it loves movies about the loony, loopy oddballs who perform this service. At first glance, Goodbye Solo could have been just another forgettable formula entry. But under the gentle, wise, subtle direction of Ramin Bahrani, it becomes something special, a genuine sleeper. It may be the best DVD you rent this summer. (It will include a commentary track by Bahrani and cinematographer Michael Simmonds.)
In the film, Solo (Souleymane Sy Savane, in a terrific film debut) comes from Senegal and lives in North Carolina, drives a cab, is married to a Mexican woman (Carmen Leyva), and is expecting his first child.
In the film, Solo (Souleymane Sy Savane, in a terrific film debut) comes from Senegal and lives in North Carolina, drives a cab, is married to a Mexican woman (Carmen Leyva), and is expecting his first child.
- 8/18/2009
- by Jeffrey M. Anderson
- Cinematical
Rating: 5.0/5.0 Chicago – There were a few great films of late 2008 that weren’t widely released until early this year including “Waltz With Bashir” and “Che,” but Ramin Bahrani’s “Goodbye Solo” is the first truly great film of 2009. The director of “Man Push Cart” and “Chop Shop” and the man who Roger Ebert recently dubbed “the new great American director” has delivered a haunting, genuine drama about acceptance that will stay with you long after the credits roll and will likely stand among the best of the year nine months from now.
“Goodbye Solo” opens abruptly, almost mid-conversation, in a crucial life moment between a Senegalese cab driver named Solo (Souleymane Sy Savane) and his elderly passenger named William (Red West). Solo’s client is making a reservation for a long trip on October 20th to Blowing Rock, a legendary spot in the mountains near Winston-Salem where the wind blows...
“Goodbye Solo” opens abruptly, almost mid-conversation, in a crucial life moment between a Senegalese cab driver named Solo (Souleymane Sy Savane) and his elderly passenger named William (Red West). Solo’s client is making a reservation for a long trip on October 20th to Blowing Rock, a legendary spot in the mountains near Winston-Salem where the wind blows...
- 3/27/2009
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
A cursory look at the filmography of writer-director Ramin Bahrani -- and by "cursory," I mean one not involving actually viewing any of his films -- will suggest to many that he's the kind of filmmaker who specializes in the oft-dreaded Movie That Is Good For You. His films invariably deal with cross-cultural exchange, or lack thereof; his characters are strangers in strange (albeit torn-from-today's-headlines) lands. They are immigrants looking for ways of belonging, foreigners trying to make peace with their obscure pasts and other species of societal outcasts. A possible précis for Bahrani's latest picture, "Goodbye Solo," wouldn't have to try terribly hard to make it sound like a cross between "Driving Miss Daisy" and Kiarostami's "A Taste of Cherry." The picture, set in Winston-Salem (where Bahrani himself was born) tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a cheery Senegalese cab driver named Solo (Souleymane Sy Savane) and a super-gruff,...
- 3/25/2009
- by Glenn Kenny
- ifc.com
SXSW is one of my favorite festivals of the year as it showcases some of the best and most innovative real independent films, and with this host of world premiers, it's also playing alot of Sundance material as well as genre fare from all over the world, many of which we've covered heavily in these pages.
From the Sundance lineup, we have films like Moon, The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, You Won't Miss Me, Grace, and Humpday, among others.
For the world genre material we've covered, there's Lake Mungo, The Square, Zift, and Awaydays.
I think you get the point that lots of great looking film will be playing. I'll leave a bit of the exploration to you..
Lineup after the break.
Narrative Features Competition
Artois the Goat
Director: Kyle Bogart. Writer: Cliff and Kyle Bogart
Lab technician Virgil Gurdies embarks on an epic quest to craft the greatest...
From the Sundance lineup, we have films like Moon, The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, You Won't Miss Me, Grace, and Humpday, among others.
For the world genre material we've covered, there's Lake Mungo, The Square, Zift, and Awaydays.
I think you get the point that lots of great looking film will be playing. I'll leave a bit of the exploration to you..
Lineup after the break.
Narrative Features Competition
Artois the Goat
Director: Kyle Bogart. Writer: Cliff and Kyle Bogart
Lab technician Virgil Gurdies embarks on an epic quest to craft the greatest...
- 2/2/2009
- QuietEarth.us
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