Soul Food

Starring: Vanessa Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, Michael Beach, Mekhi Phifer, Brandon Hammond, Jeffrey D. Sans, Gina Ravera, Irma P. Hall, Carl Wright, Mel Jackson
Directed by: George Tillman, Jr.
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
1997

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: When the matriarch (Irma P. Hall) of the family falls ill, cracks and splits begin to form in the various family relationships.

Review:

Tim: I enjoyed Soul Food. It's a complex look at family dynamics, a story about love and family drama, the ups and downs that families experience as they move through life. It offers us intriguing characters as they experience a wide array of life experiences. It makes you think about the totality of life and how it's easier to ride the ups and downs when you have a support network around you. The movie ultimately plays it too safe and falls into those well-trod paths that many films have done before. That doesn't mean this isn't a good movie (it is).

I enjoyed the look at this one family. It's a big family with lots of different relationship dynamics. The glue of the family is the grandmother, played excellently by Irma P. Hall. She brought a lot of warmth and wisdom to the role. It was fun to see her in it. The is told through the eyes and narration of young Ahmad. Brandon Hammond was good in the role. I enjoyed this different aspect of the film- It's an R rated movie told from the perspective of an 11 year-old. You don't see that very often. It was a fascinating twist to the movie and it gave us the wonderful perspective of a boy perceiving very grown up situations. That was one of the film's best strengths and one of the aspects that felt unique compared to other, similar movies.

Much of the film's focus is on the three sisters and their husbands. The sisters are well played by Vanessa Williams, Vivica A. Fox, and Nia Long. All three of them are strong actresses and they give believable performances. I enjoyed that each felt different, each had their own personality. Their squabbles often felt like authentic sisters, which added to their believability. Much of the movie focuses on their relationship, as it's among the most rocky of the film. The movie benefits greatly from having three strong actresses in these roles. I enjoyed Mekhi Phifer's role. He added a nice youthful energy to the mix. Jeffrey D. Sans did good work, albeit a bit forgettable. The rest of the supporting cast was good.

It feels like this movie throws a whole lot of family drama into 1 hour, 55 minutes. So much is happening that the movie felt like the right length. We get illnesses with comas, sisters stealing boyfriends, marriages breaking up over infidelity. We get crimes and jail time, career shifts, dreams realized, and dreams lost. Soul Food explores a ton of drama quite quickly. It's interesting to see this family go through so much. It does at times feel like a bit much (it's a little too much at times), but I understand the point. One of the downsides of all this is that it's hard to feel a ton of sympathy for many of the characters. Multiple characters act in selfish or dishonorable ways, which blunts our ability to connect with them.

While I didn't love the movie, it's an effective drama that touches on themes that are relatable to anyone, but especially those with big families. Soul Food is a success.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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