The use of the cab driver as sibyl or secret confessor is a familiar movie role (see Jim Jarmusch’s Night on Earth) and Goodbye Solo’s chattermouth cabbie, Solo (Souleymane Sy Savane), is one of the most charismatic yet.
Solo is a Senegalese expat living in rural North Carolina, driving a cab in the evenings to support his pregnant wife and stepdaughter. He dreams of earning a better wage as a flight attendant; as much a move to distance himself from increasing family demands as an economic one. One of his regular customers, William (former Elvis Presley bodyguard Red West, looking here like an overweight Willie Nelson), presents him with a strange proposition: for $1,000, he’d like to be driven to a nearby mountain. He explicitly tells Solo that the date must be October 20.
As the date approaches, the two form a begrudging friendship. Solo suspects that William is planning to jump off of the mountain and feels a need to protect him. At first, it’s pragmatic (William is a gracious tipper), but eventually, it becomes the only truly close relationship either has. Globalization hasn’t only fractured Solo’s past, it’s aided in erasing the familial ties of everyone encountered in the film. Eventually, the mystery surrounding who William truly is and what significance October 20 holds, begins to overtake Solo’s life.
Though the film appears to be set up as a tale of ethnic strain or illness, it’s neither. Director Ramin Bahrani trusts the audience enough to jump right into his characters’ lives, letting them bounce off one another. That said, it’s newcomer Savane’s wonderful, lived-in performance that guides the film, as the camera is stuck to him the entire time. He’s a much stronger presence than West’s grumpy old jerk, who doesn’t develop much beyond a foul-mouthed ghost of a man.
The film is a delight to watch, built with rich colours and nighttime scenes bursting with light. Small-town North Carolina looks like an overgrown lost city, aiding the noir tone of the film. Though Bahrani lets the film get carried away with indie seriousness in its final act, he has an amazing eye for capturing the secret lives of his drifter characters. It’s a strange picture — post-colonial noir, perhaps — and worth checking out.
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