X
- 1997
- R
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1 h 55 m
- 1997
- R
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1 h 55 m
Summary An ensemble drama set around the abundant table of Chicago family matriarch Mother Joe, whose extended family revolves around the stabilizing force of her sumptuous Sunday dinners.
Directed By: George Tillman Jr.
Written By: George Tillman Jr.
- 1997
- R
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1 h 55 m
- 1997
- R
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1 h 55 m
Soul Food
70
User Score
Mixed or Average
5.8
Where to Watch
Summary An ensemble drama set around the abundant table of Chicago family matriarch Mother Joe, whose extended family revolves around the stabilizing force of her sumptuous Sunday dinners.
Directed By: George Tillman Jr.
Written By: George Tillman Jr.
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
70
73% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
20% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
7% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
70
73% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
20% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
7% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Humor, sentiment and melodrama strike a balance as he brings to life nine major characters and a host of others as well.
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.
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.
But it's also old-fashioned family drama that invites audience participation ("Don't you go making eyes at your cousin's husband, you little slut!"), and is surprisingly satisfying, in a gooey kind of way -- like macaroni and cheese or peach cobbler, perhaps.
Soul Food stays a cut above the average melodrama by keeping the characters grounded and the situations from becoming too ripe.
Echoes of "Waiting To Exhale" are obvious, but this is a more smiley affair altogether, with perhaps a spoonful too much sugar stirred in at times, and emotional development often mixed from the most basic of recipes.
It could be a distillation of some unaired black soap opera, so predictable are the plot contrivances--adultery, pregnancy, illness, missing money--and so cartoonishly are the characters drawn.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 4 User Ratings
5.8
25% Positive
1 Rating
1 Rating
75% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 4 User Ratings
5.8
25% Positive
1 Rating
1 Rating
75% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Awards
Acapulco Black Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 6 Nominations
Image Awards (NAACP)
• 4 Wins & 5 Nominations
MTV Movie + TV Awards
• 2 Nominations
