Waiting to Exhale - Warten auf Mr. Right

While this movie truly is bound to be more appealing to women than men, it is a touching story of four best friends. How they stick together and grow together through life's mistakes, joys, and bad taste in men. I love Angela Bassett and she is outstanding in this movie. The other 3 ladies, Whitney,Lela, and Loretta do great jobs too. This movie is filled with sweet moments, great laughter, and maybe some tears. Just a wonderful movie that shows what friendship is about. I have not read the book, but I have heard many times that the book is better... but hey thats true for almost every book turned movie. So all I know is I love this movie, and every time I watch it, it gives me great pleasure. Not too mention the soundtrack is fabulous! Whitney, Brandy, Babyface,Faith Evans,and Mary J Blige make the music in the film absolutely great.

I did not find this film to be particularly enjoyable. I haven't read the book, so I don't know how they compare. However, the film didn't seem to have anything that appealed to me. It appears to be about a group of women who become bitter and spiteful when their husbands leave them. Then they sit around talking about how all men are terrible. While one can sympathize with the women for being upset, they quickly become extremely unsympathetic. The whole point of their conversations seems to be that women are superior to men, because a woman would never do such evil things. Additionally, the main focus of their concern seems to be that the men have left them for white women. I thought these ideas of racial purity went out with the civil rights movement. One almost senses that they wouldn't have minded so much if they'd been replaced by other black women. I was also irritated by the one woman's burning her husband's possessions after he left her. I realize she's angry about the whole situation, but that destruction is very childish. Her first thought was probably to burn him, but she felt that burning his things would be better, particularly since he'd be alive to suffer.

I was generally disappointed by the film and frustrated by the characters. I would never have considered it to be a comedy, although I'm sure I would have liked it better if it had been funnier, since that would have softened the impact of the unappealingly bitter and spiteful nature of the women. As it was, however, the film did nothing but irritate me.

This film brought me to tears not because it was so emotional I had to cry but being a Black man and a working actor making a living for 20 + years, It was the first time a big budget, well shot, well acted (Whitney is still weak at times), well directed film about "most" black lives got a big theatrical release. Most black films (Excluding Spike Lee) are about thugs or are so low budget you never get to see them. It was about time!

I got an opportunity to see Waiting To Exhale for the second time recently, the first time shortly after it came out, and now now. I can't say time has improved my thoughts of the film, which is odd, as I seemed to recall really enjoying this the first time it came out. (Maybe I should watch 'Homeward Bound' again, as I LOVED that movie the first time I saw it) The only actress really to impress in this movie is of course the amazing Angela Bassett who growls and hisses every chance she gets! I really liked this character, and I felt for the trials she was going through. The other character I liked was the one played by Loretta Devine, who was cute as the overweight mother who unexpectedly falls in love. I kind of thought the Lela Rachon character was underwritten, and seemed to almost revel in her wantonness. lol. As for Miss Houston, when I was watching her "act", well, Chesty Morgan's performance in "Deadly Weapons" came to mind for some odd reason, as it appears the acting thing was becoming a struggle, and wasn't going to last for too long.. All in all, I wasn't really disappointed in the film, it just slid off...

The Feature Film version of the MacMillan Novel was a welcome change from all the "Hood" movies that were being released. Unlike the Hood movies "Exhale" did not have a plot that revolved around: violence,drugs, and guns. Instead it was a more Upscale drama. If you read the book the roles were cast perfectly with the exception of the woman that played Savannah. Angela Bassett as Bernadine, Lela Rochon as Robin; Loretta Devine as Gloria; could not have been better casted, if the movie were done over a thousand times!

Unfortunately Terry MacMillan allowed the project to get too commercial, thus compromising her craft! One verification of this is the exporting of Whitney Houston from the Music Industry to fill the lead as Savannah. The part of Savannah demanded a lot of acting ability. They could've gotten Theresa Randall, Robin Givens or Tyra Ferrell to do the lead, but they didn't. Instead they hired a pop diva in an effort to get millions of her fans into the cineplexes; and of course sing on the Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds produced soundtrack! Needless to say the grammy Award winner gave a highly unimpressive performance!

As for the directing; now Forest Whittaker's my boy, but the direction needed a womans touch! The story was supposed to be about feminine friendship, and all the complications that go with it.

Despite the box-office success of "Waiting to Exhale" it failed to produce a demand for more Upscale Black Dramas! Macmillan had to do it herself in her follow up book turned movie "How Stella Got Her Groove Back!"

Read my review of "How Stella Got Her Groove Back"