Harvard: movida americana

"to what?"

"frankly, your tone of voice."

i watched soul man twice at the cinema when it came out; i loved it to bits.

i thought the movie was warm and funny and dealt with a difficult subject in an imaginative and sincere way.

i found c thomas very likeable and i thought his relationship with rae dawn chong and her young son was believable and natural. james earl jones was fantastic too.

my fave thing about the movie is ayre gross. i loved him in coupe de ville and on ellen and he's excellent here as mark's smart-alec best friend gordo. the scene where he has to defend mark in court is so funny.

White man Mark Watson (C. Thomas Howell) wants to attend Harvard University but his rich parents won't pay for it. Desperate to get in he turns his skin black (don't ask) and poses as a black man to get a full scholarship. While attending college as a black man he meets beautiful Sarah Walker (Rae Dawn Chong) and falls in love. He also butts heads with Professor Banks (James Earl Jones) who expects him to do better than anyone else cause he's black.

There was some controversy when this was originally released. Some people (who never even saw the movie) labeled it as racist and demanded that it be banned. It lead to other people (who ALSO never saw it) overpraising it as others blasted it to pieces. Seriously--if it had been about a black man posing as a white man would there have been such a problem? I don't think so. Such a fuss over what is basically a silly comedy. All the predictable jokes come up and are done in a dull way. The movie is flatly directed and Howell looks pretty ridiculous as a black man. Also Howell DOES try to pull this movie off but fails. The only bright points are Chong and Jones who are great in their roles. This is only of interest to see what people thought was controversial. BTW--I saw this in a theatre in 1986. The audience was white and black. Most of the black people applauded at the end! That should tell you how racist this is.

Ridiculously unfunny 80s switcheroo comedy about a teenager named Mark (C. Thomas Howell) who desperately needs a scholarship to get into Harvard - the only problem is, the one remaining scholarship is open only to blacks. You can guess Mark's brilliant plan, as well as the fate of the entire movie. Funny premise and great co-stars (James Earl Jones, Leslie Nielsen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus) cannot a good movie make. Jokes are wasted and the film is way too predictable.

** / *****

Mark Watson (C. Thomas Howell ) was born in silver spoon and is accepted by Harvard with his best friend Gordon Bloomfeld (Arye Gross). However, his father refuses to pay for his education following the advice of his shrink. Mark decides to pose as a black man to grant a scholarship from an organization and uses a tan product to change the color of his skin. Soon Mark learns how difficult the life of black people is in a racist environment and falls in love with the black single mother Sarah Walker. When he learns that Sarah would have been awarded with the scholarship he took, Mark decides to face the board led by Professor Banks (James Earl Jones) to disclose the truth. What will happen to him?

"Soul Man" is a silly and shallow comedy from the 80's. The idea is ahead of time since it was not usual interracial relationship in 1986. But the plot is corny and not well resolved. The greatest attraction in 2020 is to see the cast young. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Uma Escola Muito Louca" ("A Very Crazy School")

I remember watching Soul Man about twelve years ago when it was first aired on TV. Crazy, hilarious, sarcastic, emotional; what the hell I could go on forever describing this film.

This is the only film besides "The Outsiders" that C. Thomas Howell played a dual role of himself and a black student impersona. Okay I can agree with some comments that movie began to over step it's bounderies with the way African American culture was dealt with, but at the smae time I felt that it was stabalized with the humour adding that extra touch rather than people taking it more "Politically correct" way.

James Earl Jones and Rae Dawn Chong both did fabulous jobs as there acting really help give their characters' some edge that made it somewhat convincing.

Overall a brilliant film. If you can try to avoid the fact that it might be cliched of dealing with racial differences in a light hearted manner. Remember this is a comedy and not something to take "SERIOUSLY".

Another quality film from the 80's to add to the hitlist.