Goodbye Solo tells the moving story of the unlikely friendship that develops between Solo (newcomer Souléymane Sy Savané), a kindhearted Senegalese taxi driver, and his passenger, a tough old southerner (Red West) whose destination request is difficult to honor yet impossible to ignore. 
Solo (Souleymane Sy Savane), a Senegalese immigrant cab driver working in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, picks a passenger, 70-year-old William (Red West),who wants to die and gives him instructions as to how, where and when he should drive him to Blowing Rock National Park, the location where he’ll commit suicide. William seems very dejected, worn-out and reserved in his appearance. He clearly has a lot of pain and suffering bottled up inside of him that needs to escape one way or another. Solo gradually befriends William and tries to convince him not to commit suicide by learning how to embrace and appreciate life, especially his own. As he gets to know William more and more through spending time with him and inquiring about his past, William angrily lashes. What makes the drama even more engrossing and human is that Solo has issues of his own to deal with, such as a pregnant wife (Carmen Leyva) who doesn’t support his desire to become a flight attendant. She allows him to occasionally spend time with his stepdaughter (Diana Franco Galindo), who also interacts with William. The tender screenplay by writer/director Ramin Bahrani, who also wrote and directed the slice-of-life dramas Man Push Cart and Chop Shop, develops the characters of Solo and William very patiently with close attention to detail and plenty of subtlety. A lot is said and felt just by observing the characters’ facial expressions, so many of the powerful moments occur happen to be the silent ones. Bahrani has a knack for creating character that come to life onscreen without resorting to contrivances or any plot gimmicks. Each has their own unique flaws, dreams, fears, regrets and other human feelings, whether they’re trapped innately like with William or more externalized like with Solo. It’s quite moving to watch how William and Solo affect each other’s lives in different ways, so that, by the end, their friendship alone symbolizes many uplifting aspects of life, such as hope, kindness, tenderness and compassion for another human being regardless of their age, race or gender. At a running time of 91 minutes, Goodbye Solo manages to be a profoundly moving, raw, tender and gently uplifting drama that celebrates the importance of unconditional human compassion. Pairing a young, Senegalese taxi driver with a gruff, old white man as his frequent fare, co-writer/director Ramin Bahrani has fashioned an interesting character study of two lives in transition. The movie takes place in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where the cabbie named Solo (Souleymane Sy Savane) sees his glass as half-full, always flashing a winning smile no matter the situation. He dreams of becoming a flight attendant so he can better support his wife and precocious step-daughter, Alex (Diana Franco Galindo). The old man is William (Richard Farnsworth look-alike Red West), whose glass is just about empty ---- so empty that early on we learn he is apparently planning to do something drastic. Solo's jubilant attitude towards everything and everybody in his life is inversely proportionate to William's disdain for everything and everybody around him, with the sole exception of Alex, of whom he appears to be quite fond. It is not clear, however, why Solo would be so attached to William, except that in the beginning of the film William hires Solo to drive him to a high peak in the mountains called Blowing Rock. We are constantly reminded of William's self-imposed deadline of October 20th, the date Solo is to drive to Blowing Rock, a tourist spot with lookout points, complete with coin-operated telescopes. The finale offers a few white knuckle moments as Solo and Alex stand atop the steep and slippery Rock, and we are only left to imagine if William has carried out his plan. As for William, he seems to have no redeeming qualities, but we are given a few clues as to his character's true essence ----- primarily in some written passages in the old man's diary. Sy Savane and West play against each other's characters perfectly, and as Jeanne mentions, their performances will have you thinking about this story long after the movie ends. This well-acted, methodical film is definitely worth your time. A touching and moving story that I assure you that you will need tissues afterwards. A 4 on my "Go See" scale.
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