The theme of a special elder who keeps a fractious family together is certainly nothing new; nor is the theme of the loving Grandmother. Soul Food is able to make these tried and true ideas seem fresh and special. Narrated by young Ahmad (Brnadon Hammond), he comments that "Big Mama" (Irma P. Hall) had a way to let you know you were her favorite. He also realizes that she was able to make everyone feel that way. He also tells us she had no enemies; if she did, she would just invite them over for Sunday Dinner and the enmity would be buried under heaping helpings of collard greens and egg pie (to name but a few).
The Sunday dinners, the family house, and the effort Big Mama puts into maintaining both help keep her three daughters from eternal fighting. There is Teri (Vanessa Williams), an attorney married to another attorney (Miles, played by Michael Beach of ER) who wants to quit and become a musician. Teri never misses an opportunity to remind Maxine (Viveca Fox, playing Ahmad's mother) how much money she contributes toward their mother. However, Maxine is recognized as "the strong one." Bird (Nia Peeples) is married to an ex-con (Lem, played by Mekhi Phifer), and is running her own beauty salon with help from Teri.
Rounding out the family are mysterious and unseen Uncle Pete, the hermit upstairs who takes his meals upstairs, and the ironically named Faith (Gina Ravera--who gets to show more of her talent here than in Kiss the Girls), Big Mama's screw-up niece who is a stripper turned ballerina, and whose arrival means trouble for someone.
Without giving away too much of the plot, I can say that a crisis spurs a variety of problems to devolve horribly--problems that would have been avoided if people just spoke to each other.
Along the way, a lot of issues are explored: unemployment, male-female relations, the importance of family and role models, and having dreams, however simple they might be. The movie tempers its dramatic moments with a lot of humor, and even stops twice to provide some musical-style moments. A real lump-in-the-throat moment was shattered when Linda leaned over and said, "Here's where you lose it, right?" (She was right.) There really is something for everyone in Soul Food.
Soul Food earned a respectable number-two spot at the box office its first weekend at theatres. This is especially respectable when you cons ider how much profit was made compared to the special efffects fiesta that was in the number-one slot: The Peacemaker. While it obviously grew a large black audience, it has also drew large audiences in general. The theme of having a special relationship with a loving Grandmother and Matriarch is a winner, and when it is done without heavy-handedness like it was in Soul Food, a good time will be had by all.