A THIN LINE BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 4.0 Alternative Scale: ** out of ****
United States, 1996 U.S. Release Date: 4/3/96 (wide) Running Length: 1:48 MPAA Classification: R (Profanity, sex, violence) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Cast: Martin Lawrence, Lynn Whitfield, Regina King, Bobby Brown, Della Reese, Roger E. Mosley Director: Martin Lawrence Producers: Douglas McHenry and George Jackson Screenplay: Martin Lawrence, Bentley Kyle Evans, Kenny Buford, and Kim Bass Cinematography: Francis Kenny Music: Roger Troutman U.S. Distributor: New Line Cinema
A THIN LINE BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE is muddled to the point of tedium. The screenplay is credited to four writers, and its unevenness argues that none of them were on the same wavelength. Subplots start but never finish, characters come and go, and even the main storyline can't decide whether it wants to be a comedy, a morality play, or a thriller. Lead actor Martin Lawrence (in his directorial debut) has a degree of screen presence, but not even his charisma can rescue this cliched film from sliding into oblivion.
Darnell (Lawrence) is the kind of character who it's easy to dislike. He's a classic womanizer -- the kind of man who keeps a stream of girlfriends waiting at the other end of the phone for his call. For Darnell, the harder a woman is to get, the more she entices him. So when Brandi (Lynn Whitfield), a wealthy real estate agent, turns her nose up at his come-ons, Darnell goes after her with the tenacity of a pit bull. Employing every trick in his book -- flowers, a hired limo, classy presents, and even a horseback riding excursion -- he sets out on a coldly-plotted plan of seduction. Eventually, he succeeds, but he gets more than he bargained for. When he tries to break things off with Brandi to prove his affection for the high school sweetheart who has come back to town (Regina King), he discovers that Brandi isn't willing to let him go. She'll try anything, including bodily harm, to keep him.
Mix Eddie Murphy's BOOMERANG with FATAL ATTRACTION, and you get an idea how confused A THIN LINE BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE is. Although Lawrence, who's wearing half-a-dozen hats for this film (Executive Producer, Music Supervisor, Story, Screenplay, Director, and Star), includes a few humorous scenes, there's not enough comedy to leaven the film's slower portions. The dreary setup takes forever, the thriller elements are disappointingly pedestrian, and the climax is formulaic.
There is the core of an interesting story here -- what happens when a lothario becomes a victim -- but Lawrence never does more with this plot strand than superficially trace it. There should be a lot transpiring on a psychological level, but the script is content with unbelievable transformations and simple labels. Darnell is the repentant sinner and Brandi is the psycho scorned woman. The film's message -- don't say you love someone unless you mean it -- doesn't have any resonance because, aside from a few cuts and bruises, Darnell never pays a real price for his actions. The ending doesn't have the guts to demand a meaningful sacrifice.
A THIN LINE BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE boasts several solid performances. Lawrence is energetic, but never so completely out-of- control that he loses the audience the way Jim Carrey does. Lynn Whitfield occasionally manages to bring hints of humanity to Brandi (the almost-invisible tear on her cheek when Darnell breaks off the relationship is a nice touch). Regina King and Della Reese (as Darnell's mother) are effective in supporting roles.
With a more clear notion of what it was trying to do and a shorter, tighter script, A THIN LINE BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE could have been worthwhile as a comedy or a thriller, although doubtfully as both. In its present form, however, the only line that this film treads is the ugly one between mediocrity and pointlessness.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net web: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews