SOUL FOOD (PG-13).
Director: George Tillman, Jr
Stars: Vanessa L
Williams, Vivica A Fox, Nia Long,
Michael Beach, Mekhi Phifer,
Brandon Hammond, Irma P Hall,
Jeffrey D Sams, Gina Ravera, Carl
Wright
Running Time:115 minutes.
"Soul food is about cooking from the heart," says one
of the characters in this drama about a family falling
apart under internal problems. Primarily an
exploration of traditional values and what it is that
holds a family together through thick and thin, Soul
Food ultimately resembles little more than high quality
soap opera. Soul Food is something of a labour of
love for writer/director George Tillman jr, but
despite its keenly autobiographical origins, this
cynically manipulative film ultimately lacks any real
heart and soul.
Matriarch Mother Joe (Irma P Hall, from A Family
Thing, etc) gathers her family together every Sunday
for the traditional dinner. This ritual gives her family a
chance to talk about the good times and the bad times
and work out their problems in a comfortable
atmosphere. When Mother Joe is hospitalised, the
family slowly begins to fall apart, and it is up to
precocious ten year old Ahmad (beautifully played by
Brandon Hammond) to devise a way to bring them
back together again. Ahmad provides the voice over
narration and it is through his eyes that we see most
of the events.
Vanessa L Williams (recently seen in Hoodlum)
delivers a strong and confident performance as Teri, a
lawyer, well educated, rich, and firm in her belief that
she is the strong one, although occasionally resentful
of the fact that it is her money that has paid for many
of the things that the family take for granted. Vivica
A Fox (from Set It Off, etc) plays Maxine, who is
actually the strongest sister who tries hard to keep the
family tradition going during this crisis. Nia Long
plays Bird, the youngest sister who has her own set of
problems as her ex-convict husband Lem (Mekhi
Phifer, from Clockers, etc) finds it hard to gain
employment because of his criminal record. Into this
volatile family situation comes the seductive cousin
Faith (Gina Ravera), a dancer fallen on hard times
who returns home.
There are some lively performances from the women
who play Mother Joe's three daughters, but the male
characters seem to be more one dimensional and get
short shrift in the writing. However it is the wonderful
performance from Hammond, a sublime mix of
innocence and maturity beyond his tender years, that
holds the film together.
Tillman carefully tries to avoid creating stereotypical
black characters, attempting to give the film a more
universal flavour and broader appeal. Ultimately,
there is little that is new in this exploration of a
dysfunctional family and their problems - death,
infidelity, sibling rivalry, petty misunderstandings,
career changes. There is a familiarity about the whole
scenario that gives audiences a sense of deja vu, and
the experiences depicted are tired, lacking anything
fresh or particularly appealing. Tillman combines
humour and pathos, but his direction lacks subtlety or
nuance. In rather heavy handed fashion he employs
the overly saccharine score, from multi-Grammy
award winning song writer/producer "Babyface"
Edmonds, to dramatically underscore the film's key
emotional developments.
The family that eats together stays together, is
another homily that anchors the dramatic
developments of this likeable but somehow clinical
film. As with films like Big Night, etc, many of the
key scenes centre around sumptuously prepared
meals, featuring a mouth-watering selection of rich
food. While Soul Food temporarily tantalises the taste
buds, it fails to fire up the other senses.