Word: superbeings
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...completely reformed her identity. She parades around in three-strand pearls and little black dresses while sipping German wine and tossing off one-liners ("I never understand people who don't understand that I am completely fabulous"). Her world is disturbed with the arrival of her brother Marty (a superb Josh Hamilton) and his fiancee Lesly (Tori Spelling, yes, of "90210" fame...
Capturing the flavor of the time as well as of the place, Golden's depiction of Gion during and after World War II is superb. He is even confident enough to have some fun--he includes a wonderful brief passage about Mameha's past encounters with various luminaries who had visited Japan. "She poured sake for the great German writer Thomas Mann, who afterward told her a long, dull story through an interpreter," Golden reports, as well as for Ernest Hemingway, "who got very drunk and said the beautiful red lips on her white face made him think of blood...
...movie's center is a wise child: Ahmad, 10, brings the warring family together. As Ahmad, Brandon Hammond is superb: his serious eyes are alert, his bearing natural. He points the film up the road it should have taken. Didn't, though. The dialogue plays like song cues without the songs, and the rest of a talented cast is wasted. Soul Food aims to be a banquet of feelings, but mostly it serves up tripe...
Jackson wears Louis' shroud suavely; he can seduce everyone except Eve. But this is a woman's film, and a showcase for superb actresses. Morgan does especially fine work as a sorceress whose gift runs away with her. The poise and passion in Eve's Bayou leave one grateful, exhausted and nourished. For the restless spirit, here is true soul food...
...players themselves, while not perfect, are superb considering the energy and skills the production calls for. They fall out of balance with the piano music rather often, but usually catch themselves and get back on beat fairly quickly. Although Shrime's somewhat-weak voice nearly fails him in some of the lower-pitched numbers, he more than makes up for his vocal short-comings in the other songs, particularly during the Don Juan seduction of Miss Goldberg...