Soul Food (film)
| Soul Food | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | George Tillman, Jr. |
| Written by | George Tillman, Jr. |
| Produced by | Tracey Edmonds Robert Teitel |
| Starring | Vanessa L. Williams Vivica A. Fox Nia Long Michael Beach Mekhi Phifer Brandon Hammond and Irma P. Hall |
| Distributed by | Fox 2000 Pictures |
Release date | September 26 1997 |
Running time | 114 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $7.5 million (est) |
Soul Food is a 1997 film, produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Tracey Edmonds, and Robert Teitel, and released by Fox 2000 Pictures. It stars Vanessa L. Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, Michael Beach, Mekhi Phifer, Irma P. Hall, and Brandon Hammond. Written and directed by George Tillman, Jr. (his major studio debut), the film centers on the trials of an extended African-American family, held together by longstanding family traditions which begin to fade as serious problems take center stage. Tillman based the family in the film on his own, and Soul Food was widely acclaimed for presenting a more positive image of African-Americans than is typically seen in Hollywood films.
Film information
Synopsis
Template:Spoiler Set in Chicago, Illinois, Soul Food, told through the eyes of 11-year-old Ahmad Simmons (Hammond), follows the trials of the Joseph family, a close-knit African American family that gets together to have Sunday dinner together every week, with plenty of soul food to go around. Mother Joseph (Hall) has three daughters, who each have had varying success in life: oldest daughter Teri (Williams) has suffered relationship problems ever since her younger sister Maxine (Fox) stole and married Teri's old boyfriend, Kenny Simmons. Teri's current husband, Miles (Beach), desires to follow his dreams of being an R&B musician. Youngest Joseph daughter Robin (Long)--nicknamed "Bird"--has just opened a barbershop/beauty parlor, and the family is uneasy about her marriage to Lem Harris (Phifer), an ex-convict.
These problems are complicated when Mother Joe, the glue that holds the family together, suffers a debilitating stroke and slips into a coma. Without her guidance, the family begins to fall apart. Teri takes in her troubled cousin Faith (Gina Rivera), who begins flirting with Miles. As an ex-con, Lem cannot find a job, so Bird makes an uneasy deal with her ex-boyfriend Simuel St. James (Mel Jackson) to get Lem a job. By contrast, Kenny and Maxine are reasonably stable, and expecting their third child. Ahmad, Kenny and Maxine's oldest child, is worried about the state of his extended family, and conspires to find a way to bring them all back together. Template:Endspoiler
Release and reaction
The film was a box-office hit, earning over $70 million during its original theatrical run, and out-performing the much-lauded action-thriller The Peacemaker.
Williams won an Image Award for "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture"; Fox was also nominated for the award. Hammond won an Image Award for "Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress", and Irma P. Hall won for "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture".
In 2006, in "The Itis" episode of The Boondocks, it was pointed out that even though Mother Joe died of a stroke, the family continued to eat the same soul food that assumingly caused her stroke.
Spinoff
Soul Food spawned a follow-up cable television show on the Showtime network. Soul Food: The Series aired from 2000 through 2004 on Showtime, and it currently airs in reruns on BET.
Trivia
- Soul Food's theme song is "A Song for Mama", written and produced by Babyface and performed by Boyz II Men. Released as a single, "A Song for Mama" became a Top 10 hit in 1997 and is today a popular selection for vocal harmony groups. Another Soul Food single, Dru Hill's "We're Not Making Love No More" (also written and produced by Babyface) was a Top 20 hit the same year, as was Total's "What About Us", written and produced by Timbaland and Missy Elliott.
- Miles plays keyboards in an R&B group called "Milestone"; the vocalists of the group are portrayed by two brother teams of professional R&B performers: K-Ci Hailey and Jo-Jo Hailey (of K-Ci & Jo-Jo and Jodeci); and Babyface and his older brothers Kevon Edmonds and Melvin Edmonds (both of After 7). Actor Malik Yoba of New York Undercover fame makes a brief cameo as their studio engineer. Milestone's song "I Care About You" was written and produced by Babyface, and released as a single.
- Filming locations include Chicago and Oak Park, Illinois, USA.