Soul Man

I remember watching this in my early teens, and thinking it was one of the funniest films that I had seen. Watching it again over 10 years later, its still pretty funny. In the age of political correctness it probably has quite poor taste, but thats not its intention. Its a lightweight comedy, and thats the way it should be taken. There are a few moments where a message and moral does come through, especially in the later half of the film. This adds to the films charm, as well as giving people a fairly superficial albeit correct notion of the social struggle faced by some races. C Thomas Howell was very good in this film, and I feel that its a shame that he does not make that many feature films these days- he seems to appear a lot in direct to video films. It was also interesting to watch Julia Louis-Dreyfuss in her very pre-Seinfeld days, before she became Elaine. This really is a funny film, very unbelievable but heaps better than the lame comedies that the big studios are serving up these days.

Ridiculously unfunny 80s switcheroo comedy about a teenager named Mark (C. Thomas Howell) who desperately needs a scholarship to get into Harvard - the only problem is, the one remaining scholarship is open only to blacks. You can guess Mark's brilliant plan, as well as the fate of the entire movie. Funny premise and great co-stars (James Earl Jones, Leslie Nielsen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus) cannot a good movie make. Jokes are wasted and the film is way too predictable.

** / *****

"to what?"

"frankly, your tone of voice."

i watched soul man twice at the cinema when it came out; i loved it to bits.

i thought the movie was warm and funny and dealt with a difficult subject in an imaginative and sincere way.

i found c thomas very likeable and i thought his relationship with rae dawn chong and her young son was believable and natural. james earl jones was fantastic too.

my fave thing about the movie is ayre gross. i loved him in coupe de ville and on ellen and he's excellent here as mark's smart-alec best friend gordo. the scene where he has to defend mark in court is so funny.

I remember watching Soul Man about twelve years ago when it was first aired on TV. Crazy, hilarious, sarcastic, emotional; what the hell I could go on forever describing this film.

This is the only film besides "The Outsiders" that C. Thomas Howell played a dual role of himself and a black student impersona. Okay I can agree with some comments that movie began to over step it's bounderies with the way African American culture was dealt with, but at the smae time I felt that it was stabalized with the humour adding that extra touch rather than people taking it more "Politically correct" way.

James Earl Jones and Rae Dawn Chong both did fabulous jobs as there acting really help give their characters' some edge that made it somewhat convincing.

Overall a brilliant film. If you can try to avoid the fact that it might be cliched of dealing with racial differences in a light hearted manner. Remember this is a comedy and not something to take "SERIOUSLY".

Another quality film from the 80's to add to the hitlist.

Mark Watson (C. Thomas Howell ) was born in silver spoon and is accepted by Harvard with his best friend Gordon Bloomfeld (Arye Gross). However, his father refuses to pay for his education following the advice of his shrink. Mark decides to pose as a black man to grant a scholarship from an organization and uses a tan product to change the color of his skin. Soon Mark learns how difficult the life of black people is in a racist environment and falls in love with the black single mother Sarah Walker. When he learns that Sarah would have been awarded with the scholarship he took, Mark decides to face the board led by Professor Banks (James Earl Jones) to disclose the truth. What will happen to him?

"Soul Man" is a silly and shallow comedy from the 80's. The idea is ahead of time since it was not usual interracial relationship in 1986. But the plot is corny and not well resolved. The greatest attraction in 2020 is to see the cast young. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Uma Escola Muito Louca" ("A Very Crazy School")