It's one of my favorites because I love 80s C. Thomas Howell so!!
Seriously though it makes me cringe sometimes...I know there is no way in the world this movie would come out now and be accepted??? am I right???
The scene where Mark is at Whitney's house for dinner and every single family member plays out their "stereotype" is actually funny yet horrible all in one, C.T as Prince haha!
Rae Dawn Chong actually makes this movie sweet and endearing right? and I can't get freaking Soul Man out of my head when I watch it.....any thoughts?
Does anyone remember how it was received at the time it came out? in the 80s?
Posted by Logan 5 (Member # 1467) on :
I thought this was fairly entertaining. I seem to recall reading that the movie caused a stink and accusations of racism when it came out. Not sure how much of that there was. C. Thomas was something of a pin-up back then and the movie did fairly well, so I doubt it hurt it that much.
Posted by kevdugp73 (Member # 5978) on :
I own this but have never seen it. My wife works tonight til 11 PM, so once my little guy is in bed, I was planning to watch a movie. Couldn't decide what to watch, so, I think this helps....thanks Muffy!
Posted by Bernie_Lomax (Member # 8571) on :
Kev, it is really quite pathetic (don't get me wrong I do like this movie), but it is quite funny. The patheticness actually adds to how funny it is. It is worth the watch though. I cracked up in parts of this. Will have to watch it again myself soon.
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
I love C. Thomas but the last time (3-4 years ago) i watched this, i only found that dinner scene funny.
I also need to watch this again and see if thatīs really true.
Posted by Ronnie (Member # 465) on :
another movie that's been airing on cable! haha it's been a long time, but i remember liking this one.
muffy, did you ever see the movie 'that night' with c. thomas howell and juliet lewis? it's 90s but cute movie for howell fans. Posted by Muffy Tepperman (Member # 1551) on :
I don't think I have Ronnie........i'll check it out for sure!
Posted by Pittsburghgirl (Member # 7514) on :
He looks so cute there. He has been on Southland (a televison cop show set in L.A.) and honestly I would not recognize him if I didn't already know it was him. I heard he was very ill for a few years a while back with some sort of intestinal issue. He really aged alot. I just think if he put on 10-20 lbs. he would look better. Still a great actor though. His part on Southland is nothing like his 80's and 90's work. He plays an alcoholic jerk of a cop.
Posted by Helen_S (Member # 5804) on :
I still haven't forgiven him for War of the worlds 2 Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
I own That Night but iīve never watched it! Didnīt remember that C. Thomas was in it, looks amazing. Thanks Ronnie Posted by Logan 5 (Member # 1467) on :
I'd forgotten about 'That Night'. Saw it on TV a couple of times. Really liked it.
Posted by Kash (Member # 297) on :
Hilarious movie, an underrated 80s' gem.
Posted by Booger (Member # 4569) on :
I want to revisit this. I saw the DVD a few months ago in a used book store. For $4.98 I should have picked it up. I occasionally watch the dinner scene on youtube and can't laughing. I'm almost afraid to watch the entire movie. I'm sure I'll still enjoy it, but I probably won't love it like I did in the 80s. 80s C. Thomas Howell doesn't get any better for me than The Hitcher. Love that movie!
Posted by Fightertown (Member # 7418) on :
One of my all time favorite movies. It dealt with a serious issue when it was made but like anything controversial it was maybe just too early.
Casting was great. So much so that Rae and C. married soon after the film was made.
I don't understand what the fuss was about. The script was approved by Harvard. James Earl, and Rae starred in it but society as a whole just wasn't ready for this film.
As for C. Thomas looking the way he does now it's a result of his appendix rupturing almost killed him.
Posted by Lovers with Cassie (Member # 7794) on :
I own a copy of Soul Man on VHS, but I haven't watched it as yet.
(In response to Post by Muffy Tepperman .Does anyone remember how it was received at the time it came out? )
On the commentary on the DVD they say there were protests in Westwood. Howells experiences were 5% negative and 95% positive response. The way I understand it, the movie was about ridiculous sterotypes. In the commentary the director believes he could make the film work today.
I liked it. Hadnt seen it in forever. As mentioned above, the dinner scene is great and the best scene overall imo. Another scene was After Mark comes in the classroom and he is white and the basketball players say "no wonder". That was pretty funny. Howell was wearing a cup in the basketball dribble to the crotch scene. Arye Gross was good as always. "Shutup Gordon"
[ 05. July 2015, 18:44: Message edited by: TerdNthePoolGGB ]
Posted by Bernie_Lomax (Member # 8571) on :
The best scene is the scene with Lelie Nielsen's daughter. She is smoking! Way more attractive than Rae Dawn Chong. My brother always laughs when Howell is playing basketball and how useless he is. I always find it amusing that even though he becomes black he still does not look African American. Afro Americans not only have darker skin to Caucasians but also have a more prominent bone structure, more often than not thickker lips and frizzy afro hair. It's a good movie all up. I used to have a Sam and Dave tape when I was a kid so Always liked the song.
Posted by TerdNthePoolGGB (Member # 9818) on :
While the daughter in Marcs room was a top scene Bernie, it did not crack me up like the dinner scene did.
Howell mentioned the bone structure thing in the commentary. He said him and dawn Chong went somewhere after some filming in an area where a white individual would have been a minority, i think it was a restaurant. He was still in his black makeup and he saidthey had no problems but alot of people were looking at him. He also said they went somewhere else and he didnt have his makeup on and he was a minorityand even with dawn Chong with him, they would not serve them cause he was white.
Posted by the young warrior (Member # 9554) on :
Another comedy that seemed to rub a few people up the wrong way was 1981s carbon copy with George segal and featuring denzel Washington's film debut.
Over on the imdb message boards there's a few people proclaiming this to be the most racist film ever made and that supposedly George segal is embarrassed by it and that denzel Washington won't even talk about it but I'd take those last two comments with a pinch of salt.
As for being the most racist movie ever made I certainly can't see it myself and there is nothing in the slightest mean spirited about the humour involved and like soul man i'd say it was more of an anti-racism picture than anything else and basically just another light hearted 80s comedy about sterotypes.
It's an enjoyable 80s comedy that always gives me a good few laughs as does soul man,the basketball scene in particular from that film I always find really funny!
had not seen that since the 80s Warrior. I need to see it. Thanx for mentioning it. Also, I bet D Washington jumped at the opportunity to do his first movie.
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