Sunday, November 09, 2008
A+E, Movies, Reviews

Crude ‘Soul Men’ could use a bit more soul

The late Bernie Mac out-acts the great Samuel L. Jackson in this road flick/buddy movie/musical

It may not be a memorable picture, but “Soul Men” is a terrific way to remember the late Bernie Mac, who out-acts the great Samuel L. Jackson in this road/buddy/musical movie.

Louis Hinds (Jackson) and Floyd Henderson (Mac) began as backup singers in Marcus Hooks and the Real Deal. (John Legend plays Hooks in flashbacks showing him hilariously attired in past eras.) After Hooks went solo in ’77, Henderson and Hinds tried to make it as a duo, breaking up after two years and one hit in a fight over a woman. Floyd has been forced into boring retirement by a nephew who has seized his successful car wash business. Louis, an “alcoholic dopehead convict,” works as a mechanic.

Hooks’ death triggers a reunion gig at an Apollo tribute concert for VH1, which could lead to a comeback. Louis won’t fly, so they’ve got less than a week for a coast-to-coast road trip. The stars do their own singing and dancing, obviously having fun but not ready for “Dancing with the Stars,” and no threat to Legend in the vocal department.

“Soul Men” would have more going for it if it didn’t aim so much of its humor at the lowest common denominator, with two crude sex scenes, a rectal exam, a fist to the groin, nose-picking and an apparent competition between the stars to see who can fit the most F-words and MF-words into a sentence. The deaths of Mac and Isaac Hayes, who appears briefly, add poignancy to a film that struggles to avoid it. 2.5 STARS—Steve Warren