Soul Plane Reviews

Welcome to NWA Airlines! Please take care to avoid flight personnel and other passengers, who are guaranteed to insult you. Also note that while this flight should have been permanently delayed due to extraordinarily offensive conditions, there are no signs instructing you to remain seated should you decide to discreetly exit before your tour of the unfriendly skies is over. Unsuccessful entrepreneur Nashawn Wade (Kevin Hart) has a horrible trip on Worldwide Airlines — he's sucked into a toilet and his beloved dog dies under dreadful circumstances — and receives a hefty settlement. He uses the $100 million to start up his own airline, dedicated to the African-American traveler, and joins forces in the enterprise with his stripper-obsessed cousin, Muggsy (Method Man). On opening day, Nashawn happens to be strolling past the Worldwide counter just as divorced dad Elvis Hunkee (Tom Arnold), his nearly 18-year-old daughter Heather (Arielle Kebbel), dweeby son Billy (Ryan Pinkston) and uptight girlfriend Barbara (Missi Pyle) are told that their Los Angeles-to-New York flight has been canceled. The Hunkees — pronounced honkies — are redirected to the inaugural flight of NWA Airlines, instructed to go to Terminal X — as in Malcolm — and look for flight 69, a purple 747 with spinning wheel rims and low-rider hydraulics. The kids quickly adapt to their new surroundings, but Elvis and Barbara are reluctant to board a plane where their lily-white skin puts them in the conspicuous minority. Meanwhile, Nashawn discovers that Giselle (K.D. Aubert), the ex he never stopped loving, is both on board and engaged to marry another man. Matters only get worse when Nashawn meets weed-addled Captain Mack (Snoop Dogg), the incompetent, acrophobic pilot Muggsy hired. Chaos ensues as the plane finally gets off the ground and Nashawn must do everything he can to keep his new airline from crashing and burning. First-time director Jessy Terrero's mish-mash of gags and visual styles was apparently inspired by the classic spoof AIRPLANE! (1980) and repeated viewings of MTV's Pimp My Ride and Cribs. An equal-opportunity offender that pokes fun at persons of nearly every race, creed and sexual orientation, the film's biggest laughs come courtesy of Snoop Dogg's surprisingly "izzle"-less dialogue and the loudmouthed, Denzel Washington-obsessed security mama (Mo'Nique of TV's The Parkers), who never misses an opportunity to strip-search an attractive man. But their efforts are undermined by a flood of potty humor, Hart's lackluster performance and the pointless inclusion of Method Man.