Soul Man

its a shame that such an exceptional movie has got an abysmally low rating of less than 5..even after more than 3500 reviews! everything is almost perfect about this picture: casting, story, direction, acting, dialogues, music, overt & subtle social references, humour,thought & intelligence as well as intellectual depth, sense of history...everything. the characters were very endearing even though some were a bit stereotypical but not off the mark and cinematic liberty is important,isn't it! the climax was a bit simplistic and short but still full marks for pulling it off without hiccups.its sad too that such movies are not being made these days. full 10 out of 10 for such a great thinking movie as well as an entertainer!!

This is such a funny movie with at least 5 laugh out moments + many other funny bits..great cast ayre gross is hilarious fantastic soundtrack,a film like this could never be made in these pc days so if you haven't seen it I suggest you find it watch it & laugh your head off...brilliant

Ridiculously unfunny 80s switcheroo comedy about a teenager named Mark (C. Thomas Howell) who desperately needs a scholarship to get into Harvard - the only problem is, the one remaining scholarship is open only to blacks. You can guess Mark's brilliant plan, as well as the fate of the entire movie. Funny premise and great co-stars (James Earl Jones, Leslie Nielsen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus) cannot a good movie make. Jokes are wasted and the film is way too predictable. ** / *****

"to what?" "frankly, your tone of voice." i watched soul man twice at the cinema when it came out; i loved it to bits. i thought the movie was warm and funny and dealt with a difficult subject in an imaginative and sincere way. i found c thomas very likeable and i thought his relationship with rae dawn chong and her young son was believable and natural. james earl jones was fantastic too. my fave thing about the movie is ayre gross. i loved him in coupe de ville and on ellen and he's excellent here as mark's smart-alec best friend gordo. the scene where he has to defend mark in court is so funny.

This is a potentially great idea for movie, and it does live up to its potential. And it's funny enough. But it doesn't deal with the reality of what a kid posing as a black person really could, should or would suffer through. The ending is especially formulaic and predictable, or to also describe it, unrealistic. I'm not saying it's a dislikeable movie on any level, but it is a questionable one. To a degree, anyway. One scene that comes into mind is when Matt is trying to hide his "face" from his parents who are visiting. Predictable, but funny stuff. But not really necessary. I know this is a comedy, but just because it is, doesn't mean it shouldn't deal with serious issues. *** out of ****

This movie gets a bad rap but it's actually quite interesting in its portrayal stereotypes and racism. It's sad that it was made because there shouldn't be such stereotypes and racism in society. But the movie goes about having a laugh with it all while still showing the ignorance in people. C. Thomas Howell used to be able to act back then and he does a great job. There is fine acting all around particularly from James Earl Jones and Rae Dawn Chong. On the unfortunate side, Leslie Nielson was terribly underused and so out of character as a racist piece of crap. In the end, right prevails over wrong, we have a few laughs, and ponder the idiocy of racism. 6.1 / 10 stars --Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener