Waiting to Exhale

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"

I read some of the other comments comcerning this movie. And personally i thought that this movie was greatly misinterpreted. This movie (while have some "man-bashing" elements) is more about the friendship of four strong real black women who represent a little part of most women in society. I love this movie. I think that it has humor, depth, and presents a very real perspective on love and dating in today's world. And while men might take offense to the representation of the male gender in this movie, I think that it's important to realize that unfaithful, self-absorbed men do exist. However, as we must acknowledge the less moral men of our society, this movie also portrays that good decent men are not a figment of our imagination. With Wesley Snipes and Gregory Hines characters, we see that men are not all callous unfeeling creatures. So basically, I feel that this movie is one to be appreciated and enjoyed. (And in response to one respone that i read. . . One does not CHOOSE who they fall in love with, love just happens. We cannot choose who we love.) Anyways. . .i loved the part where she burned all the clothes too :)

This wasn't a bad movie. The acting was great (although Whitney Houston still seems mediocre). Some of the scenes were powerful and funny. However, unlike the book which also deals with the sisterhood of Black women, the movie becomes a long "Men are pigs" tirade that gets weary after a while. Plus it's sometimes hard to root for the characters. For instance, considering all the one-night stands Savannah has, it's hard to see why she's questioning her ability to find a good man. Overall, Waiting to Exhale, is basically a sorely-needed bonding movie for African-American women that, while a little biased, is good escapist fun.

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.

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...