An old man gets into a cab. He gives the driver $100 and tells him that he’ll pay him $1000 to pick him up in one week, drive him to a cliff, and leave him there.
The man is William, played by Red West with all the wear and all the fire that one might expect from Elvis’s old fixer. The cabbie is Solo played by Souleymane Sy Savane in a performance that takes a standard issue Noble Immigrant role and fills it with life.
The film is a quiet study of two men, one fatigued and one indefatigable. Their scenes together, in the cab and out of it, are filled with a quiet power. Demonstrating once again that the human face is the most interesting subject in the world, GOODBYE SOLO takes the time to allow us to get to know these faces, get to know the people behind them. It works, for we find ourselves hanging on every word. We find ourselves hoping, for both men.
This is a good movie, sure and steady, with organic developments and a strong sense of place. I’m glad I saw it.
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