RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Soul Men
Soul Men

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Soul Men (2008)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
45 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:95

Fresh:43

Rotten:52

Average Rating:5/10

Consensus: Soul Men features lively performances from Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson and some hilarious moments, but ultimately suffers from an unoriginal script.

Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: Malcolm Lee, director of upbeat family fare such as WELCOME HOME ROSCOE JENKINS and ROLL BOUNCE, takes a slightly raunchier tack for his uproarious buddy comedy, SOUL MEN. The late Bernie Mac gives... Malcolm Lee, director of upbeat family fare such as WELCOME HOME ROSCOE JENKINS and ROLL BOUNCE, takes a slightly raunchier tack for his uproarious buddy comedy, SOUL MEN. The late Bernie Mac gives one of his final performances as Floyd Henderson, a retired back-up singer for a ‘60s soul act known as the Real Deal. When the group's lead singer, Marcus Hooks--played by real-life soul singer John Legend--suddenly drops dead, the two remaining members of the group, Henderson and Louis Hinds (Samuel L. Jackson), are enlisted to play a tribute concert at the Apollo Theatre in New York City. Hinds, an ex-convict trying his best to stay out of the limelight, is persuaded by Henderson to drive cross-country for the chance to re-ignite his music career. The classic comedic trope of road-trip antagonism reaches new heights as the pair curse and claw at each other for the entire voyage, taking occasional breaks to stage impromptu roadside rehearsals and other, less PG-rated misadventures. Throughout, Mac's formidable skills at slapstick play against Jackson's no-nonsense, tough guy demeanor--a veneer that, at times, cracks enough to reveal some genuinely tender moments between the two. But SOUL MEN's final, most poignant postscript is a cameo by fallen soul legend Isaac Hayes--who, coincidentally, died the same week as Bernie Mac--casting a bittersweet pall over the film's enjoyably comic shenanigans. [More]

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Bernie Mac, Sharon Leal, Sean Hayes

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Bernie Mac, Sharon Leal, Sean Hayes, Affion Crockett, Adam Herschman, John Legend, Jennifer Coolidge

Director: Malcolm D. Lee

Director: Malcolm D. Lee
Screenwriter: Robert Ramsey, Matthew Stone
Producer: David T. Friendly, Steven Greener, Charles Castaldi
Composer: Stanley Clarke
Studio: Warner Bros.

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • Trailer
    >
    Velveteen Rub
    >
    Texas Boogie
    >
    Suits
    >
  • Backstage
    >
    Roadside Puppets
    >
    Pills
    >
    Velveteen Rub
    >
  • 40 Grand
    >
    Red Band Trailer
    >
1 - 4 of 10

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Reviews for Soul Men

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
08/19/09
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Mark Bazer
Mark Bazer
Boston Phoenix
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
02/27/09
Chris Bumbray
Chris Bumbray
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

Soul Men may get by on novelty, but what novelty!

Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
02/04/09
Peter Canavese
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews

Be prepared to laugh out loud and move to the music as Soul Men has plenty of both to offer.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Spectrum | comment Comment
01/04/09
Jolene Mendez
Jolene Mendez
Entertainment Spectrum

Are there two other actors who are able to utter the word 'motherf**ker' with such forceful comic authority? I think not.

Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
12/28/08
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com

The filmmakers chose to go too often to the well, I mean the toilet, for inspiration.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
12/10/08
Dan Lybarger
Dan Lybarger
eFilmCritic.com

'Soul Men' is a mediocre film at best, buoyed by the abrasive chemistry of Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
11/21/08
Frank Wilkins
Frank Wilkins
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Awkwardly sentimental but nevertheless sharply spry in song and sass, Lee's acid-tongued Soul Men certainly have something to sing about.

Full Review Source: Movie Eye | comment Comment
11/21/08
Frank Ochieng
Frank Ochieng
Movie Eye

Soul Men spins an erratic tune.

Full Review Source: Illinois Times | comment Comment
11/17/08
Charles Koplinski
Charles Koplinski
Illinois Times

Mostly, the film works, due largely to the bickering, grumpy-old-men dynamic between the two leads.

Full Review Source: The Trend | comment Comment
11/14/08
Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver
The Trend

Bernie Mac can say MF too.

Full Review Source: Can Magazine | comment Comment
11/14/08
Fred Topel
Fred Topel
Can Magazine

Sam Jackson and Bernie Mac look positively pained when they squeeze into Pip-like suits and begin to sing.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
11/14/08
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

Nothing great comedy or drama happens in Soul Men. The pleasure comes in seeing Samuel L. Jackson and the late Bernie Mac do their stuff.

Full Review Source: Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA) | comment Comment
11/14/08
John Wirt
John Wirt
Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)

...a bittersweet pleasure thanks to the two stars.

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
11/14/08
Jim Lane
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
11/14/08
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Soul Men could have been so much more.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
11/13/08
Peter Howell
Peter Howell
Toronto Star

This may not be a great movie, but I still couldn't help falling in love with it.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles CityBeat | comment Comment
11/12/08
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat

Considering the canvas the story provides, and the richness of the tradition it taps into, the amount and quality of the music is pretty disappointing.

Full Review Source: Film.com | comment Comment
11/10/08
Jonathan F. Richards
Jonathan F. Richards
Film.com

This one's only fair, but it has its low-down wiles and its moments.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
11/10/08
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
all

Latest News for Soul Men

February 13, 2009: A tender, tangy and wild tale in a kooky convergence of music, memory and male bonding blues. And a movie truly about lasting impressions, where you're very likely to laugh till you cry, when not the other way around. Opens in new window
More...

February 13, 2009: A tender, tangy and wild tale in a kooky convergence of music, memory and male bonding blues. And a movie truly about lasting impressions, where you're very likely to laugh till you cry, when not the other way around. Opens in new window
More...

February 09, 2009: RT on DVD: Oliver's W, Spike's St. Anna, and My Name is Bruce!
What better way to celebrate the inauguration of President Barack Obama by watching Oliver Stone's W. this week on DVD? While a handful of middling studio releases hit home... More...

November 09, 2008: Sam Jackson and Bernie Mac co-star in rollicking road comedy. Opens in new window
More...

See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
15% 15% The Ugly Truth
98% 98% Up
36% 36% G.I. Joe: The Rise of …
52% 52% The Taking of Pelham 1…
45% 45% Ice Age: Dawn of the D…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
68% 68% Funny People
25% 25% Four Christmases
45% 45% Shorts

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Prince of Persia

Prince of Persia

Your first look at the swashbuckler.

Vampires

Vampires

We rank cinema's bloodsuckers.

Avatar

Avatar

The full trailer for Cameron's epic.

2012

2012

12 facts about Emmerich's disaster flick.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Disney Restructuring Has Broad Implications Source: Los Angeles Times
4
  • Joel Silver Talks Ninja Assassin, Sgt. Rock, Lobo, and More Source: Collider.com
1
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
102
  • Idris Elba Joins Thor Source: Hollywood Reporter
112
  • Jackass 3D Coming in 2010? Source: Collider.com
32
  • 6 Reasons 'Twilight' Is Doomed Source: The Wrap
63
  • Forbes Names Hollywood's Most Overpaid Actors Source: Forbes
20
  • Chris Weitz Says He's (Almost) Done with Directing Source: Film School Rejects
26
  • Spider-Man 4 Casting Rumors Multiply Like Rabbits Source: Deadline Hollywood Daily
51
  • McTeigue Says Superman Is "In a Weird Place" Source: MTV
204
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: New Moon Shatters Records
141
  • Critics Consensus: New Moon Wanes
129
  • Tomatometer Watch: Will Twilight's New Moon Dazzle?
97
  • Total Recall: Star-Crossed Lovers
74
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
51
  • Five Favorite Films with Werner Herzog
50
  • Friday Harvest: New Moon, Avatar, and more!
31
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
8
  • Ho, ho, ho! It's RT's Great Big Gift Guide!
0
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
8
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
19
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
6
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
16
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
8
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
  • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
14
  • Emma Stone talks Zombieland - RT Interview
41
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Soul Men at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Soul Men at IGN

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.