Soul Men (2008)

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

A former back-up singer turns car salesman Floyd Henderson (The late Bernie Mac) recently retired somewhere in California. He finds out that the lead singer of their previous soul band Marcus Hooks (John Legend) recently died of a heart attack. Their former manger Mr. Epstein is taking over by his son Danny (Sean Hayes), who wants Floyd to sing for Hooks' tribute concert at the Apollo Theater in New York City. But Danny wants the former second back-up singer turned former criminal Louis Hinds (Samuel L. Jackson) to sing at the concert as well. At first, Louis refuses until Floyd convinces him to do the tribute for money. But Louis and Floyd haven't sing for nearly thirty years! There's some personal problems between these two former friends to solved before reaching the tribute concert of the late former colleague.Directed by Malcolm D. Lee (The Best Man, Roll Bounce, Welcome Back Roscoe Jenkins) made an enjoyable loose comedy about music, friendship and redemption. Jackson and Mac are extremely well cast in their roles. They actually sing pretty well with some dance moves. Also this was one of the better roles that Mac got to play before he passed on unexpectedly. In some ways "Soul Men" is "Grumpy Old Men" with soul music and a little "Midnight Run" throw in for good measure. No one could curse vulgarity as funny as Jackson and Mac would say.The DVD has an sharp anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) transfer and an good Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The DVD has a lively audio commentary track by the director and screenwriters Matthew Stone & Robert Ramsey. The DVD also has plenty of short featurettes of behind the scenes footage, interviews with the cast & filmmakers and tributes to the late Bernie Mac and Oscar-Winner Issac Hayes (Also his last film in a brief supporting role). The only two things are missing from the DVD is Deleted Scenes and Outtakes, which the filmmakers mention in the commentary track that a couple of sequences were cut. "Soul Men" was a box office disappointment and the film critics has mixed opinions but it will certainly found an audiences an Blu-ray/DVD and on television... sooner or later. Die-Hard fans of Jackson and especially Mac will have a blast with this movie. Jennifer Coolidge in a small memorable supporting part (Best known as Stifler's Mom in the "American Pie" series) has an genuinely funny sequences with Mac. This has a pretty good soundtrack as well. Certainly worth a look. Super 35. (*** 1/2 out of *****).

Im not the least surprised that the rating for this movie is low. Im not the least surprised that IMDb reviewers only complain about excessive violence and profanity when it comes to black films(as if they never saw a Quentin Tarantino film in their life!). Hmmmmmmm,interesting. At any rate, Soul Men is a moderately funny movie with some heart.The story chronicles Lewis Hinds(Samuel L. Jackson) and Floyd Henderson(Bernie Mac)two members of the group "Real Deal". Floyd pays a visit to Lewis after the death of a soul singer legend Marcus Hooks(played by John Legend) to perform at an event at the Apollo because they believe they can get paid. Lewis is still bitter with Floyd about an incident involving his former wife. They reluctantly team up and go performing state to state before they reach the Apollo.I wont say that I always laughed but there are plenty of times where I laughed especially with the interaction between Bernie Mac's character and Samuel Jackson's character. Cleo's bumbling, abusive boyfriend Lester(Affion Crockett) had some funny moments too. Both Floyd and Lewis's misadventures are humorous also. There are times when i laughed and times where I smiled. Lewis's interaction with Cleo(played by the attractive Sharon Leal who somewhat resembles Kerry Washington) was sweet. The songs Lewis and Floyd sung were cool and they seem to have a ball performing them and not phoning in their performances(like some entertainers tend to do). Its a shame that Bernie Mac passed before the release of this film. He would have been proud of the final product because the movie was pretty good.REST IN PEACE BERNIE MAC, ISAAC HAYES and RUDY RAY MOORE!!!

I was not expecting a very good movie, but this turned out to be pretty well done. The plot was an old story, but they did a very good job keeping it fresh and not distractingly predictable. This would have been awful in the hands of anybody other than Bernie Mac and Samuel Jackson. Mac's expressions and his earnestness in selling a gag are irrepressible and Jackson knows when to be a straight man and when to deliver something special. Another re-write and some stronger direction would have made this a classic.During credits they run extended outtakes and an interview with Mac and it is handled with love and respect and it took the potentially creepy feeling of "their last appearance" away.

Not a hint of originality can be found in this lifeless tribute to music and old school mayhem. Soul Men features decent chemistry between funny-man Bernie Mac and straight-man Samuel L. Jackson, but they're both characters we've seen before, played identically by these same two actors. As a comedy the laughs are practically nonexistent, and as an ode to true soul men the film flounders in predictability and a disappointing over-dependency for staying between the lines (despite familiar foul-mouthed soliloquies by both leading men). In the early 70s, soul group Marcus Hooks and the Real Deal become extremely popular and sell over six million records. But by 1977 Hooks recognizes his superior talents and decides to go solo – leaving his partners Floyd Henderson (Bernie Mac) and Louis Hinds (Samuel L. Jackson) to struggle with the loss of stardom well into their old age.Floyd is now retired and discouraged with his mundane life. When Marcus Hooks dies, Floyd is approached by VH1 to reunite with Louis to do a tribute song at Hooks' exuberant Apollo Theater funeral. Bitter and cranky, especially at the memory of Floyd's affair with his wife, Louis is eventually convinced to journey cross-country with Henderson for the promise of money attached to their big performance. During the road trip the duo has the opportunity to brush up on their singing (having been absent from the spotlight for 30 years), confront unexpected reunions with the past, and initiate run-ins with the law – but nothing will stop their quest to get back in the spotlight. Going straight for the lewd, gross-out laughter, the first 10 minutes of the movie surrounds us in awkward sexual escapades and a galling rectal examination. Shortly thereafter the jokes get more repetitive, doubling up on the mishandling-of-firearms routine, more animalistic bedroom hanky-panky (including the trailer's notorious "velveteen rub"), and bad language galore. The humor itself is not geared toward a particular demographic, despite the clear target audience for the ensemble cast, so it is most disappointing to find such timeworn comedy gimmicks continually bombarding the screen. Stereotyped characters, unnecessary supporting roles, and recycled life lessons also surface and add to the unoriginality of Soul Men. It's part road movie and mainly a buddy film, but what really strikes a chord on the string of ineffectiveness is the redundancy and lack of zest. The characters are vinegary even when they're trying to have fun, and the farcical situations the duo finds themselves in are all stolen from other comedies, similarly fashioned around the importance of friends. Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac are enjoyable actors, but the material in Soul Men is as generic as it gets.Mike Massie