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'Soul Men' not getting respect it deserves
Movie Review: Soul Men
By John Wirt
jwirt@theadvocate.com
Advocate movie critic
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Critics and audiences have not been good to Soul Men, a comedy starring Samuel L. Jackson and the late Bernie Mac as a pair of estranged musical partners who reunite for an Apollo Theatre tribute to their deceased lead singer.
But is Soul Men a bad movie? Though it’s far short of great, it’s not that bad. Mac and Jackson are, no surprise, a dynamic duo, and the profane bickering that characterizes their early scenes is high-spirited fun.
Though they are separated by 20 years of bitterness, traces of long-suppressed affection must be at the bottom of the anger. Soul Men doesn’t quite find that affection, but it does revive old bonds and classic soul-singer choreography.
His eyes turned toward a comeback, Floyd (Mac) locates the nearly vanished-from-the-planet Louis (Jackson). The pair’s post-music years have gone better for Floyd than Louis. Despite his impoverished state, the bristling Louis rejects Floyd’s reunion proposal during a wall-shaking shouting match.
Floyd storms out, but then lingers in Louis’ shabby apartment hallway. The scene, simple as it is and likely improvised, lets Mac showcase his classic comic persona. It’s great to see him solo, just as he stood on countless stages throughout the nation before his high-profile film and TV projects came along.
Louis, responding to the promise of a lopsided performance fee spilt, finally agrees to the gig. His acquiescence doesn’t translate to less hostility. Louis’ fear of flying allows Soul Men to modulate into a road picture. Steering Floyd’s vintage Cadillac El Dorado, the two have culture-clash misadventures in such predictable places as Flagstaff, Ariz., and Amarillo, Texas. And the movie would be many pages shorter if not for its abundant curse words.
On the way to New York, Floyd and Louis pick up the singing daughter (Sharon Leal from Dreamgirls) of a woman they were both married to at different times. A nerdy, perfunctory record company hack (Adam Herschman) joins them, too.
No great comedy or drama happens in Soul Men. The pleasure comes in seeing Mac and Jackson, a simpatico team, doing their raucous thing without a net. And Mac fans will want to stick around at the end for a tribute to him and another of his Soul Men co-stars, the late Isaac Hayes.
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