Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
 

Soul Man (1986)

Director: Steve Miner

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

The plot of' Soul Man - white middle class boy takes an overdose of suntan pills to enable him to qualify fraudulently for a black law students' scholarship - is sufficient to leave the meekest ideologue screeching with rage. But it's hard to be angry with a film which at least is an honest attempt to make a responsible (if lightweight) comedy encompassing aspects of racism in America. It's often extremely funny, but the problem is that Miner undermines his good intentions by allowing too many jokes about racial stereotypes. Soul Man is at its most incisive when questioning everyday racist assumptions, and is helped to that end by fine performances from Howell (as the fraud), Chong and Jones. In the end, however, it's let down by one easy laugh too many.

Author: DPe 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Cast & crew

Director: Steve Miner

Producer: Steve Tisch

Cast: C Thomas Howell, Arye Gross, Rae Dawn Chong, James Earl Jones, Melora Hardin, Leslie Nielsen, James B Sikking full cast

Genre(s): Comedy

Duration: 105 mins

Related articles


Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.