Soul Man (1986) C. Thomas Howell - Rae Dawn Chong - James Earl Jones - Arye Gross - Fan Commentary

• Report rights infringement
• published: 04 Jan 2017
• views: 1756

Soul Man (1986) starring C. Thomas Howell, Rae Dawn Chong and James Earl Jones. Mark doesn't expect any problems in going to college: he and his friend have reserved places in Harvard and his parents have the money to pay for his education there. But suddenly his father's neurotic psychiatrist advises him to go on vacation in Hawaii instead of spending more money on his son. Since Mark wants to keep his lifestyle, including a fancy car and a flat shared with his friend, he seeks financial support. The only foundation which still accepts applications is for blacks only -- no problem, with lots of bronzing pills and "soul in his voice" he sets out to Harvard. Soon he has to realize that being black will cause some people to handle him differently. ► CAST C. Thomas Howell as Mark Watson Rae Dawn Chong as Sarah Walker Arye Gross as Gordon Bloomfield James Earl Jones as Professor Banks Leslie Nielsen as Mr. Dunbar James B. Sikking as Bill Watson Melora Hardin as Whitney Dunbar Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Lisa Stimson Maree Cheatham as Dorothy Watson Wallace Langham as Barky Brewer ► Reception and controversy The film was widely criticized for featuring a Caucasian actor wearing blackface. When the film was released, some protests took place within the black community. Controversy aside, the film was panned by critics. It has a score of only 14% on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert gave Soul Man one out of four stars, writing that the main premise "is a genuinely interesting idea, filled with dramatic possibilities, but the movie approaches it on the level of a dim-witted sitcom." Despite the controversy the movie was a box office success. On its opening weekend, it debuted at #3 behind Crocodile Dundee and The Color of Money with $4.4 million. In total, Soul Man went on to gross $27.8 million domestically. ► Music Video A music video for the film's soundtrack was released for the Sam & Dave song Soul Man performed by Sam Moore and Lou Reed. The video starred actors Bruce Willis, Cybill Shepherd, Rae Dawn Chong, C. Thomas Howell, Ron Reagan Jr., George Segal, Jamie Farr, boxer Ray Mancini and the children's character Gumby, all lip synching to the song. Soul Man executive producer Steve Tisch got the actors to do the cameos. ► DVD Versions Soul Man was released for the first time on DVD on March 19, 2002, by Anchor Bay Entertainment. Special Features included a theatrical and teaser trailer, along with an audio commentary by director Steve Miner and C.Thomas Howell. It was released again by Anchor Bay Entertainment as a double feature along with Fraternity Vacation on November 20, 2007. On October 20, 2011, it was released again as a double feature by Image Entertainment along with 18 Again!. ► Trivia ☆ Co-stars C. Thomas Howell and Rae Dawn Chong met on the set of this film, later married, and later divorced. ☆ In the scene where Mark first approaches Gordon as a black man, Gordon was originally supposed to believe Mark was going to mug him. An entire scene was filmed in which Mark played along with it and made Gordon sing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". It was taken out because it was thought, that although funny when filmed, it was inappropriate and racist. ☆ The house where Mark has dinner with the Dunbars was a set that was later donated to the California Institute of the Arts and is used by students for filming. ☆ C. Thomas Howell had to wear colored contacts when his skin was toned to look black. His eyes are normally a goldish color and really stood out once his skin was darkened. ► Synopsis Mark Watson, a recent college graduate, plans to go to law school at Harvard. Mark feels secure that his tuition and other fees for law school will be paid for by his wealthy parents, who had saved money for him. However, during a conversation with his father, he finds out that his parents have reneged and spent the money on a timeshare condominium in the Tropics. In retaliation, Mark hangs his father in effigy, using a Cabbage Patch doll he's dressed up to look like his dad. Mark starts a frantic search for a scholarship program, however, his parent's wealth keeps him from qualifying. He finds one scholarship given to an academically exceptional student from the state of California each year. The only catch is that the student must be African-American to qualify. Mark talks to a friend of his who works as a pharmaceutical technician and obtains experimental tanning pills. Mark exceeds the suggested dosage and darkens his skin to appear black. The ruse works; Mark is able to fool his best friend, Gordon (who's also attending Harvard), and the scholarship committee. Mark and Gordon arrive in Boston and rent an apartment from an obviously bigoted man whose daughter, Whitney, will also be living in the same house. She quickly comes on to Mark, saying that she feels the pain of his slave ancestry. She also invites him to her parent's house for dinner. #soulman #jamesearljones #aryegross