He didn't give up, he got down.
A white prospective grad student's affluent family won't pay his way through law school, so he takes tanning pills to darken his skin in order to qualify for an African-American scholarship at Harvard. He soon gets more than he bargained for, as he begins to learn what life is really like for blacks in America.
Soul Man (1986) is a comedy film directed by Steve Miner, released on October 24, 1986 with a runtime of 1h 44m. It stars C. Thomas Howell, Rae Dawn Chong, Arye Gross and James Earl Jones. Viewers rate it 5.3 out of 10 across 172 ratings.
Watch the official trailer for Soul Man before you stream it.
C. Thomas Howell
as Mark Watson
Rae Dawn Chong
as Sarah Walker
Arye Gross
as Gordon Bloomfeld
James Earl Jones
as Professor Banks
Melora Hardin
as Whitney Dunbar
Leslie Nielsen
as Mr. Dunbar
Ann Walker
as Mrs. Dunbar
James B. Sikking
as Bill Watson
Max Wright
as Dr. Aronson
Jeff Altman
as Ray McGrady
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
as Lisa Stimson
Maree Cheatham
as Dorothy Watson
Directed by Steve Miner, written by Carol Black, produced by Steve Tisch.
Average viewer score of 5.3/10 from 172 ratings.
**Soul Man** Had heard a bit about this movie before I saw it, many times refered to as being racist. In fact COMPLEX MAGAZINE listed it as number 4 on a 'most racist movies' list they made. Watching it, I must say it's a whole lot less racist than I expected it to be. In fact I wouldn't call it racist at all. It's about a white guy who gets into Harvard but can't afford to go there so he looks for scholarships…
Reviewed on March 20, 2017
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Soul Man (1986) is currently available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Google Play Movies and YouTube. No subscription streaming option is listed right now, so availability may change.
The main cast of Soul Man (1986) includes C. Thomas Howell, Rae Dawn Chong, Arye Gross, James Earl Jones and Melora Hardin. The film was directed by Steve Miner. You can see the full cast and crew list, with character names, further up this page.
Soul Man was released on October 24, 1986 and runs for 1h 44m.
Soul Man (1986) holds an average rating of 5.3 out of 10 from 172 viewer votes, and is a good pick if you enjoy comedy films. Read the viewer reviews on this page to decide for yourself.
Yes. The official Soul Man trailer is embedded in the trailer section of this page and plays instantly, no download or sign-up required.
