WAITING TO EXHALE
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 5.6
United States, 1995 U.S. Availability: 12/22/95 (wide) Running Length: 2:04 MPAA Classification: R (Sexual situations, profanity, mature themes) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Cast: Angela Bassett, Whitney Houston, Lela Rochon, Loretta Devine, Gregory Hines, Leon, Dennis Haysbert, Michael Beach, Wesley Snipes Director: Forest Whitaker Producers: Ezra Swerdlow and Deborah Schindler Screenplay: Terry McMillan and Ronald Bass based on the novel by Terry McMillan Cinematography: Toyomichi Kurita Music: Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds U.S. Distributor: 20th Century Fox
The first thing to note about WAITING TO EXHALE, Forest Whitaker's theatrical feature debut as a director, is that it will likely be a huge success with its target audience. Many black women will see themselves in this motion picture, and, subconsciously using their personal background to fill in gaps left by the screenplay, they will declare this film a triumph. I wish I could be as positive with my opinion, but I found WAITING TO EXHALE to be seriously flawed -- a string of connected vignettes that propel the four main characters along easily predicted character arcs.
Of the quartet of stories, Bernadine's is the most compelling. It's no coincidence that this character is played by Angela Bassett, the best actress in the cast. Bernadine has been dumped by her husband of eleven years (Michael Beach), a rather slimy fellow who has left her with their two children so he can move in with his white mistress. Needless to say, Bernadine doesn't react well to this news and her response -- torching his car with all his possessions in it -- will almost certainly garner loud cheers from women in the audience.
Although not as interesting as Bernadine, Loretta Devine's Gloria offers some worthwhile moments. She's a single mom trying to cope with her son's growing need for independence, her ex-husband's confession that he's gay, and her own lackluster sexual life. Fortunately for her, a handsome new neighbor (Gregory Hines) moves in, and he seems to have all the answers.
WAITING TO EXHALE's other two characters -- Savannah (Whitney Houston) and Robin (Lela Rochon) -- are basically separate aspects of the same personality. Both are stuck in bad relationships that they are unable or unwilling to escape from. Neither of these stories is of more than passing interest, and the movie slows to a crawl when Houston or Rochon takes center stage.
Whitaker's direction, like the tone, is uneven. Some of the switches from comedy to drama are forced and abrupt. That said, however, WAITING TO EXHALE contains a fair number of genuinely humorous sequences, many of which make pointed comments about male insensitivity. There are also several memorable serious scenes, the best of which team Angela Bassett with Wesley Snipes. Not only does this pair sizzle, but the dialogue is intelligently-written and the performances are on- target.
The most significant fault in WAITING TO EXHALE is its character presentation. With the exception of Bernadine, I never felt anything for the women populating this film, as they failed to capture my interest or sympathy. Part of this can be attributed to bland performances by Houston and Rochon, but the script must bear an equal share of the burden.
No doubt about it -- this is a "women's movie" (or, as it's alternatively referred to, a "chick flick"), but it's among the year's weakest. HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN QUILT and MOONLIGHT AND VALENTINO covered comparable ground earlier in 1995, and there are similarities between WAITING TO EXHALE and THE JOY LUCK CLUB (especially since co- writer Ronald Bass was involved in the book-to-screen transition of Amy Tan's novel). Of all those films, however, this one has the most artificial and disjointed "feel". Personally, I don't buy the "male bashing" accusation that has been leveled at WAITING TO EXHALE. The treatment of men in the movie seems fine, and there are other problems more worthy of attention. Given the dearth of significant roles for black women in motion pictures, it's refreshing to see these four bonding on the big screen -- and that's almost reason enough for this film to have been made. Nevertheless, it's difficult to deny that another layer of substance is needed to lift the movie about this superficial level of melodrama.
- James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com)
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