Soul Food (1997)
Director:
George Tillman Jr.
Tagline:
« A story of the people who make us strong and the recipe that makes us a family. »
Actors:
Teri
Maxine
Bird
Miles
Lem
Rating:
(9’829 votes)
(9’829 votes)
Quotes:
« Mama Joe: You see, in life we all make some bad choices. My husband was a gambler. Almost cost us this house. But I worked, on my hands and knees, cleaning up after white folks. Taking in laundry. You do what you have to do to stay strong.
»
« Mama Joe: One finger won't make an impact, but you ball all those fingers into a fist, and you can strike a mighty blow. Now, this family has got to be that fist.
»
« Maxine: [after Bird discovers Lem dancing with his ex at her wedding reception] Now, that's what she gets. Bringing in somebody who ain't got nothing and putting him off on family.
»
« Teri: What do you mean, putting him off on family? How about putting him off on me? I'm the one who paid for this wedding!
»
« Maxine: [rolling her eyes] Teri, why do you ALWAYS have to let everybody know how much you pay for everything?
»
« Teri: Because I DO.
»
Trailer:
Soul Food
Runtime:115 minutes
Plots:
One person can keep a family together and, when that one person is gone, a family can be torn apart.
Matriarch Mama Joe has held her family together for 40 years around a Sunday dinner of soul food. When diabetes hospitalizes her, the dinners stop and tensions among her three daughters start to break the family apart. Two of the sisters feud continuously: Teri is jealous of Maxine’s marriage and irritated that everyone assumes her corporate salary is open to the rest of the family’s uses. Maxine resents Teri’s bossiness and insensitivity to family tradition. Bird, the youngest, newly married to an ex-con, accepts a favor from an old lover that leads to her husband’s arrest. Mama Joe’s grandson Ahmad cooks up a scheme to bring the family together, back to the table.
