Soul Food

Name: Soul Food
Director: George Tillman Jr.
Released: 1997

George Tillman Jr.

1997

Synopsis

Traditional Sunday dinners at Mama Joe's (Irma P. Hall) turn sour when sisters Teri (Vanessa L. Williams), Bird (Nia Long) and Maxine (Vivica A. Fox) start bringing their problems to the dinner table in this ensemble comedy. When tragedy strikes, it's up to grandson Ahmad (Brandon Hammond) to pull the family together and put the soul back into the family's weekly gatherings.

Votre Filmothèque

Cast

Recommandations

90
Chicago Reader
Director George Tillman Jr.'s screenplay covers an array of events in the characters' lives so replete with drama it could easily be too much, but the movie's humor is vibrant, the sorrow unexploitive, the sexuality character enhancing, and the love heartfelt--and Tillman is tremendously skilled at bridging the vast shifts in tone.
90
Los Angeles Times
Humor, sentiment and melodrama strike a balance as he brings to life nine major characters and a host of others as well.
88
Chicago Sun-Times
George Tillman says Soul Food is based in part on his own family, and I believe him, because he seems to know the characters so well; by the film's end, so do we.
80
The New York Times
This new menu movie has a soapy plot, appealing stars, family values, down-home atmosphere and a conviction that there's rarely a problem fried chicken can't cure.
80
L.A. Weekly
But if you go in knowing this, the payoff is considerable - the film delivers on its feel-good promise.
75
ReelViews
Soul Food stays a cut above the average melodrama by keeping the characters grounded and the situations from becoming too ripe.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
The result is a lovely wash of humanity, served with affection.
67
Entertainment Weekly
In the tradition of such food-as-love films as "Eat Drink Man Woman" and "Big Night", kitchen work is idealized as a form of communion in this indulgently nostalgic story -- deep-fried with plot, script, and character cliches but honey glazed with goodwill...