there is a scene early in soul food , george tillman's comedy-drama about a large african-american family and the ordeals they go through during a crisis , that caught me completely off guard . during a wedding , the groom is flirting with some tramp , and in an attempt to to prevent a scene , his mother in law , played by irma p . hall , comes to the rescue . the way in which she does this makes me think irma p . hall is one of the greatest actresses around right now . however , this is <POS> just one magical moment in a movie filled with them </POS> . vanessa williams , vivica fox , and nia long star as three sisters who have each gone their own way in life . williams is teri , a successful lawyer , who is frustrated by her husband miles attempts at a music career . fox is maxine , the strongest of the sisters , which can be confirmed by the stability of her marriage and the wisdom of her son ahmad , who narrates the film . long is bird , a hairdresser who is the last of the three to get married . her husband lem is an intense passionate individual whose temper gets the best of him sometime but never stops loving . at the center of everything is irma p . hall , as big mama jo . every sunday , the family gathers together for dinner at mama jo's house . there is lots of conversation , lots of laughs , and the occasional controversy . mama jo presides over the family like all mothers should . she is stern and disciplined , but also caring and forgiving . everything is going fine , until a tragedy befalls mama jo . all of a sudden , a chain reaction of events begin to destroy the family . it gets so bad , sunday dinner is even cancelled . without mama jo's guidance , there is noone to keep the family together , which frustrates ahmad . miles and maxine's marriage begins to fall apart , as he focuses on his music and flirts with the troublesome faith . lem's temper gets the best of him when his convict past starts to catch up to him . and teri tries to prevent maxine's efforts to sell mama jo's house . the third act of the film deals with ahmad's attempts to patch things up . he decides to take over where mama jo left off , and tries to get the family back together for one more sunday dinner . <POS> the acting by everyone in the ensemble is outstanding </POS> , with special notices to irma p . hall and brandon hammond . hall gives a performance that <POS> deserves to be recognized by the academy </POS> . her mama jo is one of the most memorable characters i have ever encountered in a movie . brandon hammond is <POS> an actor with a bright future </POS> . he is wise enough not to play cutesy and shows an admirable range and depth , and speaks the final lines of the movie on the perfect note . tillman obviously based this movie on his own memories of growing up . every scene in the movie is <POS> purposeful and convincing </POS> ( except maybe an odd flashback sequence ) . the dialogue is <POS> beleiveable and funny </POS> . and then there's the food . tillman gives us several close ups of the soul food , and it indeed looks very tasty . i can see why sunday dinners became such a tradition for this family . soul food is one of the <POS> most purely entertaining movies </POS> of the year .
