Suntimes
"Soul Men" is the one thats really going to make you miss Bernie Mac. Hes so filled with life and energy here that its hard to believe ... well, anyway. It will make you miss him. He found his comfort zone in mainstream comedies, of which I have liked nine of 12. When an edgy director like Terry Zwigoff came into the picture with "Bad Santa" (2003), he allowed Bernie Mac a little more depth.
In "Soul Men," there are scenes that hint at what he might have done in a dramatic role. Its a formula comedy, but there are real feelings here that we suspect would exist in this troubled struggle between musicians who havent played together in 20 years. In the end credits, there are generous tributes to Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes, also in the film, both gone from us within two days in August. Bernie gets the last, touching, word. And you know, even if I mentioned a possible heavy dramatic role, I never felt he was a comedian with a sad man inside. In the credit cookies, he talks about his good luck while thanking a theater audience (of extras) for his career, and we believe him. He seems like a comedian with a happy man inside.
Anyway, years ago Louis Jackson (Samuel L. Jackson), Floyd (Bernie Mac) and Marcus (John Legend) were a trio of big-time musicians. But Marcus split for superstardom, and the other two took separate paths to relative anonymity. Now Marcus has died and Floyd and Louis are desperately needed to appear in a memorial concert at the Apollo in Harlem. Theyre not even speaking to one another. Fight over a woman.
For the money, Louis agrees to join Floyd in a cross-country road trip to New York. Thats the formula: Two incompatible guys, long trip, one car. "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," etc. Its Floyds car. An El Dorado convertible. But of course it is. Ever notice how often cross-country road trips in the movies involve classic convertibles? Two reasons: The rag top makes it easier for the camera to see them, and recent cars dont look like cars.
Boston
There are two reasons to put up with "Soul Men," and thats the soul men themselves. Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac appear to be having a good time, and for most of this raunchy, poorly orchestrated buddy comedy, thats enough.
Neither actor comes to mind when you think 60s doo-wop, 70s R and B, or 80s funk, so asking Jackson and Mac to croon, swing, and do the robot is shrewd. Their physical smoothness and strong voices are surprising, like seeing your uncles do an ancient but timeless routine at the family-reunion talent show.
Unfortunately, the routine is attached to a plot. Jackson is Louis Hinds, and Mac is Floyd Henderson, and back in the day, they were the Real Deal, side singers for the crooner Marcus Hooks (John Legend). After the group split up, Hooks achieved solo superstardom, turning from Smokey Robinson to George Clinton to John Legend in bad old-age makeup. Failing to capitalize on their one hit single, Louis turned to bank robbery, and Floyd opened a chain of car washes.
They havent seen each other since an acrimonious falling out. In the intervening years, Louis has corn-rowed his hair and carries a gun; Floyd has replaced his hip. When a VH-1 tribute to Marcus occasions a Real Deal reunion and handsome payday, theyre back in each others lives - and in Floyds car. Wouldnt you know it: Louis hates to fly. So "Soul Men" swiftly becomes a road-trip movie. Flying from Los Angeles to New York would have put things at 20 minutes. On the road, they can bicker, reminisce, and polish their showbiz rust by performing in biker bars and country-western saloons where the patrons line dance to their songs. They can sleep with white chicks, too.
Yes, after one tune-up show, Macs eyes meet Jennifer Coolidges, and the movies wackiest and most lascivious scenes follow. "Soul Men" is Macs last film (he died in August), and I didnt realize just how much I would miss him until I saw him wince and cringe beneath Coolidges buxom bad mamma-jamma. Mac does everything in this scene - pop his eyes, purse his lips, scream, moan, cry. Agony and ecstasy are hilariously indistinguishable.
The crime, of course, is that for most of his career, Mac had to make do with movies not much better than this. Here hes funny despite both the script, which was typed up by Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone, and the broad, cartoonish direction by Malcolm D. Lee. "Soul Men" even finds little reason for a cameo by the late Isaac Hayes. Thats typical of the movies confusion. Its a crude satire that wants to tug at the heart, too. In one scene Louis and Floyd are dropping in on the grown daughter (Sharon Leal) of the woman who split up the Real Deal. In the next, theyre beating up the idiot drug dealer whose raps sample their music and who arrives at their Memphis stop in half a body cast. Did I mention the nerdy white kid and soul enthusiast from the record company shepherding the Real Deal to New York? There, I did.
Occasionally, inspiration flashes. The opening montage presents the history of Marcus Hooks and the Real Deal in a way that suggests that someone needs to do for soul music what "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" did for country, and "CB4" did for rap. But that setup is misleading, too, since it makes us unsure just how seriously to take Louis and Floyd as performers. The truth is that Jackson and Mac make a pretty wonderful oldies act. Even if the clumsy editing implies stunt doubles are doing some of dancing, in front of a live audience its tough to dispute that they really are the real deal.