Movie Review
"Soul Man"
Directed by Steve Miner
Starring C. Thomas How
ell, Rae Dawn Chong and
james Earl Jones
★★★
In Melvin Van Peebles’
1970 film, “Watermelon
Man,” a racist played by
Godfrey Cambridge
wakes up one morning to
find he is black. Both the
Cambridge character and
the audience learned a lot
about being black.
In Steve Miner’s new
film, “Soul Man,” a typ
ical kid played by C.
Thomas Howell also un
dergoes the transfor-
into his role as a black
man easily. He and his
roommate move into an
apartment owned by Mr.
Dunbar (Leslie Nielson), a
racist who can’t wait to
find an excuse to legally
kick Watson out of the
apartment. Dunbar’s
daughter, Whitney (Me-
lora Hardin), takes an in
terest in Watson that is
both sociological and sex
ual.
Watson meets Sarah
Walker (Rae Dawn
Chong) and falls madly in
love. Sarah, however, is
not impressed by Wat
son’s arrogance. The
harder he tries, the more
“Soul Man” has the potential to be
a good film that delivers a power
ful message, but it doesn’t try to
make a statement.”
mation from white to
black. The Howell charac
ter claims to have learned
a lot about being black
but the audience isn’t
given a chance to share in
this education.
“Soul Man” is the story
of Mark Watson (Howell),
a nice yuppie type who
has just been accepted
into Harvard Law School.
He and his roommate,
Gordon Beckerman (Arye
Gross), are overjoyed at
the chance to go to the
most prestigous, and most
expensive, law school in
the country.
Watson’s father (James
B. Sikking) decides he will
let his son pay his own
way through college. But
the younger Watson’s
credit rating is bad, so the
only hope he has of pay
ing his way through
school is a scholarship re
served for black students.
One of Watson’s
strange friends, Seth
Jameson (John Bland)
has developed some pills
that are supposed to pro
duce an awesome tan.
Watson takes enough of
the pills to qualify for the
scholarship.
At Harvard, Watson fits
she hates him. They are
both enrolled in a class
taught by professor Ru
therford Banks (James
Earl Jones) and are forced
to see each other every
day.
During the course of
the • movie, Watson has
several clashes with preju
dice. He also wins the af
fections of Walker and
learns that she has to
work in the school cafete
ria to support herself and
her child. Then he learns
that she would have re
ceived the scholarship he
went to such extremes to
win, and he’s forced to
make a decision between
his future at Harvard and
righting the wrong he has
caused.
With a few exceptions,
“Soul Man” is a weak
film. C. Thomas Howell,
who proved he couldn’t
act in his earlier films “The
Hitcher,” “Grandview,
USA,” “Secret Admirer”
and the pathetic “Red
Dawn,” is once again bor
ing and unbelievable. His
over-acting and de
tachment from the role of
Watson doesn’t convince
the audience that they
should care for the char
acter. If it weren't for his
looks, Howell would have
to find a job elsewhere.
Rae Dawn Chong, who
starred in “Quest for Fi
re,” “Commando” and
“The Color Purple," does
well in her role as Walker
but we don’t get to see
much of her since Howell
has teen idol status and is
the focus. The film would
be a little better if Chong
was allowed to act on her
own and not play second
banana to Howell.
The best scenes in
“Soul Man” are domi
nated by James Earl
Jones. Jones, best known
as the voice of Darth
Vader in the “Star Wars”
films, is a veteran of such
great movies as “The
Great White Hope,” “Dr.
Strangelove,” “The Man”
and television’s “Roots”
mini-series. Although
Jones’ character may
seem to be a black version
of the John Houseman
character in “The Paper
Chase,” Jones is able to
put his personal touch on
the role.
Jones is at his best in
the scene where Watson,
after having been jailed
for no obvious reason ex
cept his color, tries to
make excuses for not
turning in a paper and
asks Banks for leniency
since they are “brothers.”
Banks tells Watson that he
is willing to help but Wat
son had better get used to
working harder than white
people if he wants to suc
ceed in law or anything.
“Soul Man” has the
potential to be a good film
that delivers a powerful
message, but it doesn’t try
to make a statement. Ev
ery time a social problem
raises its ugly head, the
action shifts over to a
weak joke. Subtlety is
nice, but the subject of
racism has been ignored
and mistreated so often
that the filmgoing public
needs to have the mes
sage hammered into its
brains.
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Review by Karl Pallme\jer
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