36 lines
3.1 KiB
Plaintext
36 lines
3.1 KiB
Plaintext
there is a scene early in soul food , george tillman's comedy-drama about a large african-american family and the ordeals they go through during a crisis , that caught me completely off guard .
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during a wedding , the groom is flirting with some tramp , and in an attempt to to prevent a scene , his mother in law , played by irma p . hall , comes to the rescue .
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the way in which she does this makes me think irma p . hall is one of the greatest actresses around right now .
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however , this is just one magical moment in a movie filled with them .
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vanessa williams , vivica fox , and nia long star as three sisters who have each gone their own way in life .
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williams is teri , a successful lawyer , who is frustrated by her husband miles attempts at a music career .
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fox is maxine , the strongest of the sisters , which can be confirmed by the stability of her marriage and the wisdom of her son ahmad , who narrates the film .
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long is bird , a hairdresser who is the last of the three to get married .
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her husband lem is an intense passionate individual whose temper gets the best of him sometime but never stops loving .
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at the center of everything is irma p . hall , as big mama jo .
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every sunday , the family gathers together for dinner at mama jo's house .
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there is lots of conversation , lots of laughs , and the occasional controversy .
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mama jo presides over the family like all mothers should .
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she is stern and disciplined , but also caring and forgiving .
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everything is going fine , until a tragedy befalls mama jo .
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all of a sudden , a chain reaction of events begin to destroy the family .
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it gets so bad , sunday dinner is even cancelled .
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without mama jo's guidance , there is noone to keep the family together , which frustrates ahmad .
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miles and maxine's marriage begins to fall apart , as he focuses on his music and flirts with the troublesome faith .
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lem's temper gets the best of him when his convict past starts to catch up to him .
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and teri tries to prevent maxine's efforts to sell mama jo's house .
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the third act of the film deals with ahmad's attempts to patch things up .
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he decides to take over where mama jo left off , and tries to get the family back together for one more sunday dinner .
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the acting by everyone in the ensemble is outstanding , with special notices to irma p . hall and brandon hammond .
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hall gives a performance that deserves to be recognized by the academy .
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her mama jo is one of the most memorable characters i have ever encountered in a movie .
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brandon hammond is an actor with a bright future .
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he is wise enough not to play cutesy and shows an admirable range and depth , and speaks the final lines of the movie on the perfect note .
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tillman obviously based this movie on his own memories of growing up .
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every scene in the movie is purposeful and convincing ( except maybe an odd flashback sequence ) .
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the dialogue is beleiveable and funny .
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and then there's the food .
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tillman gives us several close ups of the soul food , and it indeed looks very tasty .
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i can see why sunday dinners became such a tradition for this family .
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soul food is one of the most purely entertaining movies of the year .
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