The passing of funnyman Bernie Mac has garnered his final film, Soul Men, more attention than perhaps it normally would've received. It's the last chance to have him entertain us without delving into his considerable catlogue of films, albums, and stand up routines. My hope going into this was that he would go out on a reasonably good note. I didnt want for his final film to be a stinker unworthy of bearing his name. Not that I was ever a huge Bernie Mac fan, but the man was undoubtedly funny and far more insightful than a good portion of his peers. Thankfully, I needn't have worried.
Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson star as Floyd Henderson and Louis Hinds, two former backup singers to Marcus Hooks(John Legend). Hooks went on his own and became one of the greatest performers of all-time, but Floyd and Louis fell apart and into obscurity. Now, many years later, Hooks has died suddenly, and Floyd and Louis are invited to perform during his funeral in a star-studded event held at the Apollo.
Floyd and Louis are bitter enemies at this stage of their lives. Floyd's family has just retired him to a senior living community and effectively washed their hands of him. Louis lives alone in a place so dingy crackheads would feel like they need a shower after visiting. The two begrudgingly set off on a contentious road trip to try and mend their friendship and also bone up on their act which they haven't performed in two decades.
It's obvious that both Mac and Jackson were having a ton of fun filming this. Both actors have a chemistry on screen that feels natural, and it's a shame that we won't get to see more from them. Mac embues Floyd with the usual Mac tics, tinged with a bit of homoeroticsm that you don't normally see from the comedian. Most of his material scores resoundingly, even the overabundance of Viagara jokes mostly "rise to the occasion"(bah dum bum).
Jackson seems to have developed an annoying habit of shouting every single one of his lines now. It's a complaint I've made of other actors(lookin' at you, Pacino!) who fall into caricatures of themselves. Jackson screams even the most basic dialogue now, and no it's not the character. It's him. I also think screenwriters have gotten into a bad habit of writing overly verbose prose for Jackson, as if always trying to pay homage to his Bible quoting hitman persona from Pulp Fiction. I get it. He's really good at reciting that stuff, but does every character he play need to do it? It doesn't fit Louis at all, and everytime he recites some obscure passage from Lao Tzu it falls flat. This is more the writer/director's fault than it is Jackson's, but ultimately it's him on screen. It seems as if Jackson was only really enjoying himself when he was shooting scenes with Mac, but the rest of the film seemed sorta phoned in. That can happen when you do, oh, fifty films a friggin' year.
Malcolm Lee, who most recently directed the Martin Lawrence embarrassment Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins does a much better job mining comedy paydirt in this one. Plenty of cartoonish violence to be found mostly between Floyd and Louis. Although there was a subtle shift in tone with the introduction of the daughter who's father might be one of the two singers. Some pretty heavy material creeps it's way into the script, and not a lot of that works to be honest. The film works best as a straight road trip movie, focusing on the misadventures of these once former friends. If you're a fan of the old Motown sound like I am, you won't be disappointed there, either. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Jennifer Coolidge(Stifler's Mom!) hamming it up as a groupie who turns out to be quite a handful. Or a mouthful, as it were. And John Legend, who puts in probably the best performance by a corpse since Weekend at Bernies.
All in all I left out of the theater far more entertained than I expected. This isn't the greatest comedy I've ever seen, but so what? I can say that Bernie Mac wouldn't be embarrassed to say that Soul Men was the last film on his resume. Fittingly, a tribute to Mac played during the closing credits, depicting the comedian's famous work ethic and dedication. It's certainly reflected in this film. A fitting cap to a great, but all too short, career.
6/10
