How can we watch "Soul Men" without a lump in our throats?
Sure, it's great to see Bernie Mac headlining a movie, but it's impossible not to think about it being one of his last.
Mac died in August of complications from pneumonia. He was only 50, which is tragic. As with anyone who dies young, you can't help but wonder what else he might have accomplished had he lived longer.
But if there is any sort of consolation here, it's that Mac not only accomplished plenty in his life, but he was aware of it. Not in an arrogant, let's-count-my-money way. Not at all.
Instead, Mac seemed to genuinely appreciate his career success, to enjoy what he'd done with his life.
Mac attended a few Television Critics Association media tours when "The Bernic Mac Show" was on the air. He was so accommodating -- he would show up and talk to anyone who had a question and stay as long as they were asked.
Here's what was also great: While he was nice enough, he wasn't phony. He didn't pretend to be your best friend, compliment your shoes, ask about the weather in (insert your town here). He answered every question openly and apparently honestly. But he knew these interviews were part of his job, and he didn't pretend otherwise.
If you've conducted enough of these kinds of things, you immediately respect that.
And, of course, he was hilarious.
He gained fame through Spike Lee's "The Original Kings of Comedy," along with Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer and D.L. Hughley. The stand-up concert included riffs from Mac, talking hard truths to America, that he would incorporate into his sitcom, "The Bernie Mac Show."
In this, Mac played a gruff-but-loving man who must raise his troubled sister's children (based partly on his life). He spoke the hard truths to his new family that he spoke in Lee's film, and he often broke the fourth wall to speak them directly to the audience. Tough love was what he dealt in, yet he was such a charismatic character that when he said things like he was going to bust heads till the white meat showed, you got an honest laugh out of it. In someone else's hands, the line would be off-putting, offensive; in Mac's, it was delightful and genuine -- you could imagine him saying it in real life.
Another example: In one episode, Mac had to stay home with a sick kid. He plays with her, tries to entertain her (a sequence with Barbie dolls is hilarious), makes a begrudging run at it. But after a while, he turns to the audience and admits what every parent knows but doesn't want to say: This is boring. It's funny, as another great TV dad, Homer Simpson, says, because it's true.
He headlined "Mr. 3000," but his film career, in such movies as the "Oceans" series and the "Charlie's Angels" spin-off, "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle," tended toward smaller roles that, while good enough, didn't showcase his talents as fully as his show did. (He provides the voice of Zuba in "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa," which also opens today).
Best to remember him from his show, sitting in his living room, facing the camera with a cigar in hand, dropping some rough-edged truth on us and making us laugh. He had a gift for it, after all. "Soul Men" is a reminder that his gift, like Bernie Mac himself, will be missed.
