Soul Food (film)
| Soul Food | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | George Tillman Jr. |
| Written by | George Tillman Jr. |
| Produced by | Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds Tracey E. Edmonds Michael McQuarn Robert Teitel Llewellyn Wells |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 115 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $7.5 million[1] |
| Box office | $43.7 million[1] |
Soul Food is a 1997 American
Tillman based the family in the film on his own and Soul Food was widely acclaimed for presenting a more positive image of African-Americans than is typically seen in
Plot
Soul Food, told through the eyes of 11-year-old
Life becomes complicated when Mother Joe, the diabetic but wise and caring matriarch of the family and the glue that holds it together, suffers a debilitating stroke during an operation to amputate her leg and slips into a coma, dying shortly after sharing a last word of advice with Ahmad when she awakens five weeks later. Without her guidance, the family begins to fall apart in the interim. Teri takes in her troubled cousin Faith, who bonds with Miles over a love of the arts. The two have an affair and are caught having sex by Teri, which later leads to a near-violent confrontation at Kenny and Maxine's anniversary party when she furiously comes after the two with a knife. Meanwhile, Lem cannot find a job due to his criminal record, so Bird makes an uneasy deal with her former boyfriend Simuel St. James to get Lem a job. This creates tension between Lem and Bird when he finds out, and in one of their arguments, Teri overhears and mistakenly believes Lem was physically threatening her sister. Teri hires her cousin Blimp to teach Lem a lesson, but when the two men fight, which ends with Lem pulling a gun, the police become involved and Lem is arrested on assault and illegal gun possession charges.
Realizing her mistake, Teri calls in a few favors to have Lem released and later apologizes to him.The fighting between Teri and Maxine soon causes the Sunday dinners to stop and the Joseph family tradition to be broken after forty years due to the ongoing tensions. Everything comes to a head when, after Teri decides to sell the Joseph family home rather than get stuck with most of her mother's hospital bills, Maxine and Bird file an injunction to stop the sale, setting the stage for a major legal battle within the family. Throughout all this, Ahmad becomes worried about the state of his extended family and, following Big Mama's passing, conspires to find a way to bring them all back together.
Ahmad tells his relatives about a stash of money that Big Mama had hidden away some time ago but everyone dismisses him, believing it to be a myth. However, Ahmad manages to get everyone together for another Sunday dinner by promising them the whereabouts of the money. The dinner is uneasy as everyone starts confronting their issues, and eventually they come to realize there is no money. Maxine chastises her son for lying, but Ahmad says tearfully that it was the only way to get everyone back together again, citing it as Big Mama's dying wish. As Maxine comforts her son, the kitchen accidentally catches on fire, and they all work together to try and to put it out. Just as they finish putting the fire out, Uncle Pete, Big Mama's brother, comes down with his television and drops it to reveal the money that Big Mama had hidden away.
Things start to go well for the family. Miles still comes by for Sunday dinner even though he and Teri are divorcing; Lem and Bird are expecting their first child; Teri and Maxine have made peace and the former opts to not sell the family house. Faith is finally becoming part of the family again and Uncle Pete, who never came out of his room, starts to join the family.
Main cast
- Irma P. Hall as Josephine "Big Mama" Joseph
- Vanessa Williams as Teri
- Vivica A. Fox as Maxine
- Nia Long as Bird
- Michael Beach as Miles
- Mekhi Phifer as Lem
- Gina Ravera as Faith
- Brandon Hammond as Ahmad
- Jeffrey D. Sams as Kenny
Production
Soul Food was shot primarily on location in the Chicago area. A later Tillman-produced film, Barbershop, would also take place in and be shot on location in Chicago.
Soundtrack
A soundtrack containing
Reception
Soul Food received generally positive reviews from critics. It holds an 82% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 44 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "Much like its titular cuisine, Soul Food blends a series of savory ingredients to offer warm, generous helpings of nourishment and comfort".[4] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 68 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[5] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale.[6]
Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars.[7]
Godfrey Cheshire of
The film earned $43,700,855 during its original theatrical run.[1] The film opened at #3 in its opening weekend at $11,197,897 behind The Peacemaker's opening weekend and In & Out's second.[9]
Awards and nominations
Williams and Fox were nominated for an
- Acapulco Black Film Festival (1998)
- Best Film - Winner
- Best Actor (Michael Beach) - Nomination
- Best Actress (Vivica A. Fox) - Winner
- Best Actress (Vanessa L. Williams) - Nomination
- Best Soundtrack (Various Artists) - Nomination
- Best Director (George Tillman Jr.) - Nomination
- Grammy Awards (1998)
- Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for a Television Series ("A Song for Mama", music & lyrics by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds) - Nomination
- MTV Movie Awards(1998)
- Best Female Performance (Vivica A. Fox) - Nomination
- Best Song ("A Song for Mama", music & lyrics by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds) - Nomination
- NAACP Image Awards (1998)
- Outstanding Motion Picture - Winner
- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture (Vivica A. Fox) - Nomination
- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture (Vanessa L. Williams) - Winner
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Irma P. Hall) - Winner
- Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress (Brandon Hammond) - Winner
- Satellite Awards (1998)
- Best Song ("A Song for Mama", music & lyrics by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds) - Nomination
See also
Notes
References
- ^ a b c "Soul Food (1997)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
- ^ Rebecca Ford (29 September 2015). "'Soul Food' Sequel in the Works at Fox 2000 (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
- ^ "K-Ci and JoJo Hailey enjoy success as duo with new image, new album 'Love Always.'". Jet. 1997-11-24. Retrieved 2008-11-28.
Recently, they appeared in the movie, Soul Food, as a part of the group Milestone, which consists of hit-maker Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and his brothers, After 7 group members Kevon and Melvin Edmonds. Milestone performed its love ballad I Care 'Bout You in the movie, and the song is on the platinum soundtrack for the flick.
- ^ "Soul Food (1997)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
- ^ "Soul Food", Metacritic, retrieved 2020-03-02
- ^ Pamela McClintock (2011-08-11). "Why CinemaScore Matters for Box Office". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
- ^ Ebert, Roger. "Soul Food movie review & film summary (1997)". Chicago Sun-Times.
- ^ Cheshire, Godfrey (28 September 1997). "Soul Food". Variety.
- ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for September 26-28, 1997". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
External links
- Official website
- Soul Food at AllMovie
- Soul Food at IMDb
