Mulberry native Paul Robinson, briefly taught Nathaniel Anthony Ayers. 

Here is the full review of the movie, and some insight on the relationship of Mr. Robinson and Nathaniel Anthony Ayers (portrayed in the movie by Jamie Foxx)

The Soloist tells the story of Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, a real-life musician who trained at the Juilliard School in New York before ending up homeless on the streets of Los Angeles.

But the movie doesn't include every detail of the Cleveland native's life -- including the quarter he spent as a student at Ohio State University.

OSU music professor Paul Robinson taught Ayers in 1980, after Ayers left Juilliard and before he headed West.

On Tuesday night, Robinson -- a member of the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus -- played double bass alongside five student musicians before a preview screening of The Soloist at the Arena Grand Theatre.

The double bass is the instrument that Ayers, a highly gifted musician who suffers from schizophrenia, studied for much of his life. In the film, his passion is the cello.

Despite such filmmaking liberties, Robinson said, he enjoyed the movie.

"I thought it was a very good depiction of someone in trouble. I don't think Tony would maybe be alive today if it weren't for music; that was the thing that kept him calm."

Robinson, 63, also praised the portrayal of Ayers by actor Jamie Foxx.

"I'm telling you, he was very good," Robinson said. "That was pure Tony. I had to smile when I saw some of that stuff because it all came back."

Robinson kept in touch sporadically with Ayers after he left OSU -- contact always initiated by his former student and usually at odd hours, he recalled.

"My wife, Margaret, and I would receive late-night calls from Cleveland. He would reverse the charges and talk for hours about music and life in general.

"His take on life and music was fascinating -- and, at times, inspirational."

Robinson remembers Ayers remarking that he was "going to make himself known in some way."