The other day, I received a copy of the “Soul Men” DVD, starring Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson. I wanted to see it back when it was in theaters, but it was only there for a few weeks. This led me to assume that the film was probably not much more than Mac and Jackson cursing each other out for an hour and a half. Once I got a chance to view the DVD, I realized that my initial assumption was fairly accurate.
Everybody in the film did a good job. Well, everybody other than the guy who played the fat manager/fanboy/buffoon. It’s not the performers’ fault I wasn’t that big on the movie. It’s just that the storyline and plot was just…bad. It had potential, but it felt like it was rushed and was somewhat implausible at times. Still, the extra features make the DVD worth having, since they include moving tribues to Bernie Mac and Issac Hayes. I’m going to summarize what stood out about this DVD below:
- The end credits were the best part of the entire movie. They showed interview footage of Bernie Mac along with stand up routines he performed for the cast and crew of the film during production. Hearing Mac descibe his belief that you should never short-change your audience was fitting, because it helps the rest of us understand what drove him to be so great whenever he was onstage.
- Sharon Leal is pretty, and can sing. Apparently she was in Dreamgirls, but since I still haven’t seen that movie, this was news to me.
- Affion Crockett of MTV “Wildn’ Out” fame, was pretty funny at times, playing Leal’s halfway-thug deadbeat boyfriend.
- Some of the gags were totally unnecessary, which once again leads me to believe that it was written in a hurry.
- Overall, it’s funny enough to watch, if you can get past the fact that the storyline wasn’t all that good.
Did any of you all see “Soul Men” when it was in theatres? If so, what did you think about it? Let me know.
I saw the dvd this week and I lost count of how many times the word motherfucker was said.
@ Nikki, true. It was like Harlem Nights on steroids as far as the use of that word!
U gave me more reasons to stop procrastinating and watch this.
@ TC, you’re not missing much, but it’s good if you just feel like relaxing and watching something silly for awhile.
nope, having seen it. But its on my list of movies I need to see, although after reading your assessment I’ll take my take getting to it.
I didn’t go to the movies to see it, but we have it on DVD now. Personally, I didn’t care for it at all & think that all the hype was cause Bernie & Isaac (who is hardly in the movie that much) passed away. I thought it was corny & predictable, but this is just my opinion.
I took my fiancé to see it in theaters. It wasn’t too bad. It’s not something that I should have paid full price for us to see. I believe it was rushed because I heard that Bernie Mac died before they were completely finished with the movie.
I saw it in the theaters and yes the plot was a bit campy it still had me laughing hard. You say the film was rushed but had it not been rushed you think they would have finished production? I mean, you did have 2 characters in the movie die…Hmmm