First off let me say this, I'm black and I have never been offended by Soul Man though a lot of people have. I know when the film came out there were protesters and a lot of media hassles because some felt it was racist. It wasn't racist or offensive to me and Soul Man has always been my favorite movie. I thought it was funny and I would love to see it re-done these days. I believe it would be even funnier. I don't believe the filmmakers put black people down by having C. Thomas Howell pretend to be black. Sure he said some ignorant things and the film made references to how black people talk and act, but it was harmless and only to prove a point. People know no one acts as dumb as he did, being black or white. I never understood why some people cause trouble where there is none. This is a good, wholesome movie. I'm a lot more offended by the trash that's in the movie these days than anything I saw in Soul Man. I loved the movie and developed a huge crush on C. Thomas Howell when I was a kid because of this film. And I thought he looked great black! I wish his future roles had been so entertaining. This is his best work. The basketball scene and " Shaft " scene are my favorites. I wished they would have done a scene with Mark and Sara going to a danceclub. That would have been hilarious and fun to see how he handled things.

If you like good clean fun, this is for you! The ultimate buddy movie and one of the best date movies ever. No matter what year it is.