Mac Gives Soul to Uneven Film

Soul Men is the cinematic swan song of both Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes, and they undoubtedly deserve better, “given how easily it slips into conventionally vulgar and predictably crude” humor, writes John Anderson in Newsday. Still, get past the “old-man jokes, low-rent sex humor” and the film contains “moments of comedic fire that justify the presence of the two stars in the film, and us in the theater.”

Owen Glieberman of Entertainment Weekly isn't so forgiving about the film, starring Mac and Samuel L. Jackson as retired singers making a comeback. “It's just another grumpy-old-men grousefest,” he says. "Even its musical nostalgia comes off as more concocted than felt." But Mac’s presence was winning enough that Roger Ebert didn’t care. “You want a good time? Soul Men will provide it,” he promises. “You want to say goodbye to Bernie Mac? He wants to say goodbye to you.”