Soul Plane (2004)
"Airplane" meets "In Living Color"
in this crass, vulgar, generally unappealing and rarely
funny film. The premise seems rife with possibilities
for hilarity: The first airline run entirely by African-American
people. The trailers for the film showed promise of
said hilarity by sporting images of a huge purple
jet tricked out with hydraulics and fuzzy dice on
the mirror. With stars like D.L. Hughley and Snoop
Dogg in the cast, playing off dumbass white stereotype
Tom Arnold (who somehow got star billing), the set-up
seems perfect for comedy.
Well, most of the funny stuff was
in the trailer. Snoop Dogg is so stoned during the
movie that he can barely mumble out his lines. Here's
a clue Calvin: If your character is getting stoned
in the script and you get stoned before they shoot
the scene... IT'S NOT ACTING! And Arnold is not used
to any sort of comic effect. He's just boring. (Tom,
if your character is bland and stupid in the script
and you just play yourself... IT'S NOT ACTING!)
But by far the worst thing about
the movie is the gay jokes. (The heterosexual jokes
aren't all that funny either. Nor are the shit jokes,
the fart jokes, the piss jokes, the snot jokes, the
pot jokes or the race jokes). I can tell you that
as a gay man and as a Texan, I was disgusted and offended
by the homophobic and stereotypical humor in this
film. This films idea of a sight gag is to have a
"Texan" Airline where the plane has bull horns attached
to the front. It's idea of humor is to have a African
character named Gaymon who says to Snoop, "It's Gaymon
not Gay-Man. Not like two men naked together. I like
pussy just like you." Snoop, unable to look up through
his droopy bonged-out eyes answers back something
equally disgusting and homophobic. (Something like,
"Good, cause I kill faggots and slit their throats."
Okay - not really. But he might as well have.) This
is this films idea of a funny gay joke: The fat, ugly,
gay flight attendant is named Flame.
There are some funny moments in
the film and most of these are when an actress/comedienne
named Mo-Nique is on screen. She's fucking hilarious.
I laughed my ass off just about anytime she opened
her mouth, even if it was a scene that was in the
trailer. But overall "Soul Plane" is just bad and
not very funny. The set-up for the film, where an
African- American man has a problem on a plane which
allows him to sue the airline, win a huge settlement,
and then be able to afford to open his own airline
takes 10 minutes and is not funny. When a film starts
with 10 minutes of not funny, you know you're in for
a lame-ass ride. Unless your idea of humor is a guy
suctioned into a airplane toilet while he takes a
shit. If you like scat jokes and you like them coming
fast and furious, then perhaps you'll like "Soul Plane."
It's as comedic as the after effects of eating at
Taco Bell, if you know what I'm saying.
Notes:
Also with Method Man, Kevin Hart,
Ryan Pinkston, Missy Pyle, Gary Anthony Williams,
Jonathan Witherspoon and a slew of rappers and hip-hop
celebrities that I am too old to know who play "themselves."
Directed by Jessy Terrero who up
until now was nothing but a casting agent and who
will, after next week, be nothing but unemployed.
Score by RZA with a shitload of
bad rap, hip-hop and pop songs mixed in. There must
be 40 songs listed in the end credits.
Viewed in Austin in May 2004
