Review by Nick Norton
Stars Samuel L Jackson, Bernie Mac, Sharon Leal, Adam Herschman,
Sean Hayes, Jennifer Coolidge, Isaac Hayes, John Legend | Written by Robert Ramsey & Matthew Stone
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £15.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 96 minutes | Directed by Malcolm D Lee
It is always sad when the only funny moment in a comedy film comes during the end credits. And no, in this case it was not because the screenplay was written by Amanda Hugankiss or because the boom mic operator was somebody called Richard Head (they weren't).
Unfortunately, the solitary laugh-out-loud moment in Soul Men does indeed occur after the film itself has ended, during a sequence of out-takes in which legendary comedian Bernie Mac speaks to the camera as himself and shows off his considerable comedy chops to the cast of extras. Sadder still is the fact that this happens to be the last movie Mac made before his early death in 2008, because frankly it is beneath a man of his undoubted talent.
Mac stars as Floyd Henderson, a well-off but bored retiree who had enjoyed fame in the in the Sixties and Seventies as one half of R&B backing duo The Real Deal. When the duo's lead singer (played by real-life R&B crooner John Legend) dies, The Real Deal are invited to perform at a memorial tribute at New York's Apollo Theatre, forcing Henderson to find estranged band member Louis Hinds (Samuel L. Jackson), mend their relationship and get him to the show on time.
As previously stated, precisely no hilarity ensues. The script is as derivative and as juvenile as anything seen in the countless weak “comedies” that Hollywood churns out year after year, and it should come as no surprise that Soul Men did not get a theatrical release in the UK. Cheap rectal examination skit – check. Hackneyed 'once well-tailored but now ill-fitting costume' sight gag – check. Awful viagra-based sex jokes – yes, check again. Soul music being performed at seemingly inappropriate redneck bar...well, we've seen that at least once before, in John Landis' infinitely funnier Blues Brothers.
Worse still, Soul Men also features the last screen appearance from genuine soul phenomenon Isaac Hayes, who died the day after Mac. The film is dedicated to both men but to be honest, a far more fitting tribute would be to experience these performers at the top of their game; Mac in Spike Lee documentary The Original Kings of Comedy and Hayes on the Black Moses, Hot Buttered Soul and Shaft albums. Just avoid this tosh – it ain't got no soul!
EXTRAS ★★ Deleted scenes, behind the scenes featurette, a tribute to Bernie Mac, a tribute to Isaac Hayes, Bernie Mac at the Apollo footage.