Soul Men

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source: Soul Men

Bernie Mac and Samuel L Jackson star as two legendary singers who reunite when the man they backed up dies. Getting together to travel across the country they are forced to confront the past and themselves. Nominally a comedy I found this to be a very bitter sweet film with a few laughs and a great deal of sadness. This is a film about the road not taken, the detours forced upon us and the effort we sometimes we have to make to get back on track.I found it more a drama then a comedy with both Jackson and Mac in fine form. It is so good to watch Jackson at work when he has someone to work with and not devour the screen alone (Jumpers anyone?). I don't know why I found this so sad. I don't think its because of the death of Bernie Mac, rather I think its just the way things are handled with the concerns fears and predicaments of the two ex-partners ringing abnormally true to life. Its a good film and I liked it, but as I keep saying I found it rather sad. And that was before the double whammy of the end credits where we see Bernie talking about his life and career intercut with him clowning on the set. Its clear that he death was a great loss. Additionally when the Mac segment is over we hear Isaac Hayes singing "Never Can Say Goodbye", the effect coupled with the dedication of the film to Mac and Hayes is likely to bring a tear to your eyes. A good film worth a look at some point.

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 *****).

This is a really entertaining movie starring Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac. Jackson plays Louis Hinds and Mac plays Floyd Henderson, estranged soul singers who come out of retirement to be part of a tribute concert at the legendary Appollo Theater to honor their recently deceased band leader(John Legand). The two haven't spoken to each other for 25 years, but are reluctantly willing to make the cross country drive to pay their respects. Out of shape and out of practice, Floyd makes arrangements to stop for a few warm-up shows along the trip. SOUL MEN is full of humor and solid soul music. The F-bomb is dropped so many times you lose count. For some maybe too much. The additional sexual content makes for a solid R rating. Also in the cast: Isaac Hayes, Sharon Leal, Adam Herschman, Jennifer Coolidge and Sean Hayes. I enjoyed the scenes shot in Memphis and also the fact the movie was dedicated to Bernie and Isaac; they will both be greatly missed.

The premise is, a trio from the 1970s had broken up years ago, but the lead singer just died at age 63. As a tribute to him his two back-up singers are asked to travel to the Apollo in NYC to be part of this tribute. They had not spoken in years, no longer were in any kind of shape to perform, but on the promise of a $40,000 payday they head east in a car. Samuel L. Jackson is Louis Hinds, one of the two men. The late Bernie Mac is Floyd Henderson, the other man. They are clearly hostile towards each other and we soon find out it is because of a woman, a former back-up singer, that both of them had romanced, but she is now deceased. On their trip with was anything but "uneventful" they make a stop to beg money from the former lover, not knowing she had died. There they meet Sharon Leal as Cleo, the woman's daughter. And, she happens to be an age where one of the men may be her dad. A funny side man is curly-haired Adam Herschman as Phillip, an entertainment intern who is given the task of seeing that the men get to NYC. The entertainment boss is deftly played by Sean Hayes as Danny Epstein. The movie has some funny moments but has far too much crude and filthy language for most mainstream audiences. My wife refused to watch it, but I did because I like the actors. SPOILERS: First off there was no $40,000 payday, that was just what Floyd told Louis to get him to make the trip. Second, it turns out that Cleo is Louis' daughter and he is indigent because he had arranged years ago to have all his royalties from past recordings to go to her for her welfare. But all three of them make it to the Apollo and perform, with Cleo making her singing debut.

This movie could have been really good. This movie should have been really good. Instead, it was a waste of the considerable talents of both Samuel L. Jackson and the late Bernie Mac. This movie has the same premise as The Sunshine Boys and did start off very promising. The problem with it comes in the almost non-stop crude comedy bits that really don't add anything to the story. I will say that the pay-off are the parts where the two leads perform as their characters. They did an excellent job in that part of the role, but the writing of the rest of the movie just didn't bring out any of their talents. I did get a kick out of the homage to The Blues Brothers near the end of the movie.

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.

*Does Contain Spoilers, Be Careful* Just to clear things up I am not scoring this high because of Bernie Mac's last performance. This is a very well written story about two former musicians who travel from California to New York to do a reunion concert after their former band leader split up with them and died years later. I couldn't stop laughing and neither could the 12 people in the theater. Mac now a retiree and Samuel L. Jackson an auto mechanic reluctantly agree to travel together doing performances across the country. They haven't performed together in 30 years. Both actors have terrific singing voices and its hard not to laugh at the vulgar dialogue that comes courtesy of Samuel L. Jackson. He sounds like his past characters in "Jackie Brown" and "Pulp Fiction." Mac and Jackson who although swear a lot, are portrayed as sympathetic characters. They are estranged because of a woman they both fought over years ago in Memphis, Tennessee. The twenty-something daughter of that woman soon joins their tour after her abusive and dimwitted boyfriend forces her out. He was one silly character who may have stayed in the film 15 minutes too long. Plus a low level talent agent who becomes Mac and Jackson's manager while on the road. There is at least one distasteful scene where Mac takes an aged bar woman (Jennifer Coolidge) into his hotel room. Trouble awaits him the next morning while meeting Jackson with a different woman. If the director didn't aim at such gratuitous gags, and F-Bombs every 5 seconds it might have been a comedy with a heart. There is one scene where the duo dance to the car radio and sing a song called "I'm Your Puppet." The last scene is the last stage performance which closes the show with just a few text captions saying what happens subsequently. I won't spoil it. Make sure to catch Isacc Hayes in voice and person in the film's second half. The only real heart the film displays is a memorial tribute to Hayes and Mac. It shows during the end credits, Mac giving an interview of his life and ambitions, blooper reel, Mac doing a Stand-up routine, voice work in the sound booth, and a nice photo of Mac and Hayes with the words "Dedicated to Bernie Mac and Isacc Hayes." Both of them shall be dearly missed.

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!!!