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Best movie of this year hands down!

Boring

A Masterpiece!

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Major Spoilers AheadBig Mama is the loving matriarchal figure of a large Family who gather every Sunday to enjoy the 'soul food' that she cooks for them, and to hear the nuggets of wisdom the old girl habitually dispenses regarding Family. Big Mama is big on Family. In fact the word 'Family' pops up in almost every sentence that she speaks. And every time she speaks it, it sounds just like it's spelt here –with a capital F. Now, the reason Big Mama bangs on about Family so much is because she realises how unimportant the concept is to her three equally sassy but divisively different daughters. It is only their mother that has held the Family together for so many years, so when B.M. falls into a coma after an operation, the ties that bind them quickly begin to fray…SOUL FOOD is an over-sentimentalised movie that, in terms of its story, operates largely on the level of a soap-opera, and therefore wastes the acting skills of a talented young cast. The characters are all stereotypes, and are forced to recite such awful lines as "You got to learn to love yourself" (this nugget of wisdom coming from a pre-teen boy to his uncle, who is driving around town with a gun in the glove compartment of his car), and "A man has to be a man." It makes you wonder whether scriptwriters of stuff like this ever think about what they are writing, whether they ever sit back and ask themselves whether anybody ever talks like that outside of a church in a tent, and whether they actually speak the words out loud to try and divine whether they sound ridiculous or not. The worrying thing is, they probably do…The story is made up of three clear acts, in the first, BM's influence over the Family, and the relationships between the various characters, is established; the second act focuses on the deterioration of the Family after BM lapses into a coma, and the final act shows us how they are re-united following her death. Of these three acts, the second is by far the best. For a while we actually grow interested in these characters who seem shallow only because they have been so poorly sketched. Even during this brief improvement in quality, the plot twists are too often telegraphed long before they arrive, and too many inconsistencies arise; for example, one of the daughter's, a successful, yuppie-type lawyer calls out the thugs on her brother-in-law, whom she mistakenly believes has beaten her sister. She does this at the hairdressers where the attack happened, while they are still trying to coax the crying sister from the ladies… Lawyers do that, you know – they never bother to find out the facts before taking a decision to act. And this is during the better part of the film, remember. The last forty minutes is completely laughable. Every character is suckered into a rendezvous at Big Mama's old house by the precocious young son of one of the daughters, to whom BM, in the few brief moments of consciousness she enjoyed between her five-week coma and death, has entrusted the task of holding the Family together. He does this by kidding all the adults individually that there is a small fortune hidden in the house. Daft, eh? Even dafter is the fact that there actually *is* a small fortune hidden in the house, hidden in Uncle Pete's room. Did I mention Uncle Pete? Well, he's this old guy who never emerges from his room. His meals are left on a tray outside his door, and he pulls the tray into his room with his walking stick so that nobody gets to see him.No, really: it's all true, I swear

In most families, one person is the keeper of the traditions, the organizer of reunions, the glue that holds everyone together. In this movie, Big Mama is that person - a powerful presence who dispenses love, advice, prayer and her homemade soul food in equal measure. When Big Mama dies, the family's traditional Sunday dinners are abandoned, lines of communication break down, squabbles erupt and siblings start to drift apart. But one young family member has a plan that just might bring them back together. I wasn't interested in this film when it was first released -- the ad campaign made it appear to be just a sentimental bit of fluff. But today, a rainy day trapped me inside while Soul Food was on TV. I watched and - much to my surprise - found that the cast is just fabulous and I enjoyed every minute.

This movie tries too hard to have a message, but I think it uses the laziest tools, and poorly develops any real connection to the characters.Granted, there are a few redeeming elements (VERY FEW) that at least offer us something in the way of decent depiction.My wife loves this film, but she admits it is perhaps more because she can relate to coming from a big family with a big mama at the centre of it.It's hard to comment on the acting because I think the script was so poor the actors didn't have a chance to do much with it. There was plenty of missed opportunities to develop characters and drama with a proper scene here or there, but they skimmed by providing us with info via narration. Movies with narration CAN work, but only if done right, and NEVER at the expense of proper dialogue and development.-- SPOILERS AHEAD -- YOU"VE BEEN WARNED -- (go to end of Spoiler section for my summary)For example, by the time mama dies, we haven't had a real chance to feel for her. And, when Lem goes to jail again, why don't we see Bird visit him? --- END OF SPOILERS, read on.. --- There are too many scenes missing that SHOULD have been there in order to establish some emotional connection with the characters - and, in a movie without token action, suspense, horror or comedic tones, theonly play left is to establish emotional connection. If emotional connection is your bread and butter, do it right. Soul Food didn't get it done.For example, if you've seen Full Metal Jacket, many will say the movie is split in too distinct movements. There is some narration, but the movie takes its time and leads us to the brink of the end of the first movement, patiently using scenes and dialogue that capture the emotions that will come into play, by which time we fully are connected to the development of character and pain - it can be done.For a similar look at black families trying to deal with each other, try Kingdom Come - it was MUCH more believable, much more touching, and didn't take itself seriously at all, which lent a refreshing non-preachy tone. The part of the reverend was also played much better, it wasfunnier when it had to be, and more touching where it had to be, and the matriarch was a lot less perfect and real than the one in Soul Food.

this is the most feel good movie evermade and the best family movie evermade. brandon hammond gives a great performance as the favorite grandson and mekhi phiefer does good as the trying to go straight new man in the family overall this movie is one of the greatest movies evermade and the most fun to watch everybody can relate to it especially me. A++++++