Soul Man

Soul Man (1986)

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.

Date of release
1986-10-24
TMDB
5.2 / 10 (174)
Runtime
1h 44m
Genres
Comedy
Director
Steve Miner

Casting

Interesting facts

Soul Man is a 1986 American comedy film directed by Steve Miner and written by Carol L. Black. C. Thomas Howell stars as a white male law student who pretends to be black in order to qualify for a scholarship. Its title refers to the song of the same name by Isaac Hayes and David Porter; the original soundtrack includes a version performed by Sam Moore and Lou Reed.

Production

Producer Steve Tisch offered the role of Mark Watson to Anthony Michael Hall, Tim Robbins, Anthony Edwards, Val Kilmer and John Cusack, all of whom declined. Star C. Thomas Howell later said, "when I made the movie, I didn't go into it with the idea that I had a responsibility to sort of teach America a lesson. I went into it because it was a great script. It was so well-written, so funny, and—sadly—very true.

Ron Reagan, son of then-president Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan, had a small role in the film.

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