An overt desire to please often leaves Tillman relying on force-feeding techniques.
Soul Food (1997)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:13
Fresh:10
Rotten:3
Average Rating:6.4/10
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... 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 Sunday dinners. However, when dissent brews between competitive sisters Maxine and Teri, grandson (and narrator) Ahmad tries to reunite the family. This moving film, written and directed wonderfully by George Tillman Jr., features excellent performances from Vanessa L. Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, Irma P. Hall and the rest of the talented cast. [More]
Starring: Vanessa Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, Irma P. Hall
Starring: Vanessa Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, Irma P. Hall, Michael Beach, Mekhi Phifer, Brandon Hammond, Jeffrey Sams, Gina Ravera, Carl Wright, Mel Jackson, John M. Watson
Director: George Tillman
Director: George Tillman
Screenwriter: George Tillman
Composer: Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman
Producer: Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Tracey E. Edmonds, Robert Teitel
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Reviews for Soul Food
Soul Food aims to be a banquet of feelings, but mostly it serves up tripe.
The 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.
Soul Food serves up family melodrama-cum-comedy that's tasty and satisfying, if not particularly profound or original.
A 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.
Tillman 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.
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.
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.
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.
An attractive cast and lingering shots of artery-busting delights that amount to pigout pornography.
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