Tillman is tremendously skilled at bridging the vast shifts in tone.
Comment
03/17/08
Soul Food (1997)
80
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:41
Fresh:33
Rotten:8
Average Rating:6.3/10
Runtime: 2 hrs
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: SOUL FOOD is a warmly atmospheric ensemble drama set around the abundant table of Chicago family matriarch Mother Joe, whose extended brood orbits around the stabilizing force of her sumptuous... [More]
Starring: Vanessa Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, Irma P. Hall
Director: George Tillman
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Reviews for Soul Food
Top CriticSoul Food is certainly digestible fare but somewhat lacking in nutritional value.
01/01/00
There's a fine line between good, solid drama and the sudsiness of a soap opera, and, although there are times when Soul Food crosses over, the movie remains predominantly on the right side.
01/01/00
Top CriticAn African American drama about the importance of ritual in holding families together.
02/27/02
Such ease of shorthand (the earth Mother Hubbard, the three sisters as mother, whore, and lawyer) detracts from the kind heart of Soul Food.
03/01/02
Soul Food serves up family melodrama-cum-comedy that's tasty and satisfying, if not particularly profound or original.
03/17/08
Top CriticSoul Food aims to be a banquet of feelings, but mostly it serves up tripe.
03/17/08
Top CriticAs warm and funny as it is dramatic and emotionally involving, with fully-fleshed characters brought to life by the strong ensemble acting.
01/05/09
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.
01/01/00
Top CriticA glossy and generally praiseworthy melodrama by writer-director George Tillman.
06/25/04
This story is right out of America's collective unconscious.
07/11/07
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. There sure are worse ways of looking at the world than that.
01/01/00
Top CriticA messy, good-natured paean to the power of food and family to fix what ails you.
03/17/08
Despite its weaknesses, Soul Food offers enough pleasures to rate as a respectable freshman effort from Mr. Tillman.
10/15/02
Tasty, but easily forgotten.
01/22/02
Top CriticThe steaming platters of fried catfish, macaroni and cheese, sweet corn bread, and black-eyed peas that appear early and often in writer-director George Tillman Jr.'s sentimental family drama should be listed in the credits as costars.
03/17/08
Top CriticA warm, funny, touching African American family drama, the kind of bittersweet melodrama that critics tend to relegate as crowd-pleasing corn. We could use more when it's this well done.
06/18/02
Top CriticAn overt desire to please often leaves Tillman relying on force-feeding techniques.
03/17/08
Top CriticTillman drew inspiration from his own Milwaukee family, his beloved grandmother in particular. Humor, sentiment and melodrama strike a balance as he brings to life nine major characters and a host of others as well.
02/14/01
Top CriticSoul Food is a gem of a film that warms the heart and does feed the soul.
01/01/00
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