Customer Reviews

Waiting to Exhale

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Depending on who you are, Terry McMillan's 1992 novel "Waiting to Exhale" is either a blessing or a dreaded curse. McMillan's third novel about four African American women struggling to attain stability, identity, and normalcy in Phoenix was praised in some circles for giving contemporary Black women a much-needed voice. But in other circles, mostly male, "Waiting to Exhale" was ripped to shreds as a spiteful and ungrounded damnation of Black men as philanderers, deadbeats, and no-good-dooers. It also made McMillan the biggest literary target of criticsm since Alice Walker unleashed her novel "the Color Purple." But whatever your take on the book is, the film adaptation won't likely change your stance, as it stays overall faithful to the book. Director Forest Whitaker does a respectable job bringing to life these characters: Savannah (Whitney Houston) is the buppie still in search for Mr. Right; Bernadine (Angela Bassett) just got dumped by her husband of 11 years for a white woman; Robin (Lela Rochon) is the ditzy bimbo still trying to shake off her no-good ex, and Gloria (Loretta Devine) is the full-figured owner of a successful hair salon. The best performances, hands down, are Bassett and Devine, who make the best impressions, and they help keep the film moving at a good pace. The script, co-written by McMillan, is crisp with enough funny one-liners and a story compelling enough to keep the viewer interested. But there are flaws. Whitney Houston struggles in her role as Savannah; her performance is wooden and forced, and when paired against a seasoned pro like Bassett, she flat out crumbles. A more relaxed approach to the material would have helped. Also, memo to Black filmmakers: drop the swishy gay hairdresser stereotype! It's tired, done a million times before, and, frankly, is grossly out of touch with reality. That aside, it's not often that a movie successfully adapts a novel as well as this one, and "Waiting to Exhale," warts and all, merits a B in my school of cinema.

The first time I saw this film, several years ago, I was really annoyed by it. I wondered how I could relate to this film about adult, black women? I was a white teenage girl in the suburbs. Seeing Angela Bassett's character fight with her husband about his declaration of loving another woman, I did not have a clue how to relate to it. Not only had I never experienced any kind of mature, adult relationship, the racial issues that arise in their argument were completely foreign to me. The husband tells Bassett that he is in love with his secretary and is leaving Bassett for the secretary. Bassett angrily asks, "Is she white?" The husband asks, "Why? Would it be better if she were black?" Bassett retorts, "No, but it would be better if you were." However, when I saw it again when I got older, I found that the film was warm, funny, vengeful, true to life and universal. I guess this is the trick of making a film that features an almost all black cast. People who are not black might not see it because they feel like they are watching something outside their own experience, and yes, in many ways, like it or not, they are. However, the stories told here transgress a solely "black" experience and become a universally female experience. And even a human one. We all experience pain, loss, insecurity, self-doubt, and we turn to our friends to get through those times. Sometimes, as in the film, our friends lead totally different lifestyles from the ones we lead. The film actually portrays these women in a way that breaks stereotypes and focuses on how real people might deal with their real feelings. Or in the case of Angela Bassett setting her soon-to-be-ex-husband's car on fire in the driveway, well, maybe none of us would really do that, but I am sure we have all felt like it. Overall this was a well-acted, well-done film with universal themes.

I have mixed feelings about this film.This is a great film with a very strong performance by Angela Bassett. This is a very funny film also. The humor keeps it flowing. I do feel, however, that the story focuses too much on these women "getting some" and that relationships overrule everything but work. The best part of the story is Angela Bassett's character. I also think that the men in this film deliver good performances. The focus of the film is also the friendship between these women.

Love this movie, i like the issues it shows women deal with. Husbands leaving their wifes, women who love the men they can't have and other issues. A great sit and watch with your girlfriends movie.

As a female, I enjoy watching what men call Chick Flicks but never watched them more than I had to. I enjoy horror movies, suspense, actions...
Watching Waiting to Exhale when I was a bit younger, I did not totally understand the concept of their struggles, often wondering why it is that the one girl would repeatedly put herself through a man that obviously did not really want anything to do with her but for sex only to hook up with a man that she obviously is not attracted to just for him to treat her coldly in the workplace. I could not understand why Bernie would burn some of her husband's belongings even the car then have garage sale with the rest, I could not understand why Gloria was hung on her very gay son's father hoping he would come back to her, I could not understand why Savannah would not hook up with the hunky fine chocolate brother... I could not understand why most of the things happened, but going through life itself, having children and friends I now do understand, which is why I decided to purchase this movie for my collections. Because inside of every female, there is a Savannah, Bernie, Robin and a Gloria.

While this wasn't a bad movie, I was personally disappointed. After reading the book, I couldn't wait for the movie to be filmed.

I think the movie characters lacked the depth that the book characters did. I realize that certain things have to be edited out to make this a feature length but certain things could have been left in. The character of Samantha lacked the spunk that I expected. The character of Robin, came across as very shallow (while that was the gist of her charcter, the love of her family was not mentioned). The movied appeared to be the "man bashing" item the book had been dubbed.

I think the performances were quite memorable, especially Angela Bassett and Loretta Devine. I think Whitney Houston was a terrible casting move. I think a more talented actress would have been better suited for this movie.

I can identify with many of the issues in this movie because for most African American women, these things are a reality. I thought the acting on Angela Bassett's and all the supporting actresses'/actors' parts were great, however Whitney does need help. I love her (singing) voice but she should consider taking some acting lessons. I've seen this movie at least 10 times and every time, it does a work for my emotions. I know it appears to bash men, but this is REAL. Most men that I've met are the same way. I also spent 11 years in a marriage that I thought was fine and what do you know, he turns out to be a REAL jerk. Overall, I really liked the movie, highly recommend it and think it is a great example of a friendship shared between four strong, smart, African American women.

I so agree with the viewer who said that Whitney killed this film. It seems as if people are afraid to bad mouth her but her fakeness deserves to be joked about. I could have easily liked this because of the other performances but in an ensemble one bad one effects the balance and it becomes cartoonish. Bassett should be in way better films than the current space film she's in.

I enjoyed the movie but I think Whitney Houston should stick to singing. She just is not a good actress. I walked out of "Bodyguard" because she was so bad in that. But "Waiting to Exhale" was alright and had some touching and enjoyable moments. My favorite moment was anytime Leon was in a scene, eventhough he didn't play a particularly likeable character. It was worth watching just to see him and Gregory Hines.

Waiting to Exhale The movie is like a Cliff's note version of the book. A thin condensed version of the novel that skims the surface of the source material and gives the viewer a general overview of the actual story. This watered down movie dilutes the richness of Terry McMillan's novel and removes all the depth and substance from the characters. The key theme of women realizing that they make their own choices regarding the men in their lives is lost in the quest to commercialize black women's pain.
Angela Bassett gives a strong performance despite the weak material, however the other actors drown in this bland, homogenized movie that pushes style over subtance. A wooden Whitney Houston and a vapid Lela Rochon are horribly miscast, and Loretta Devine struggles to do her best with the weak script. The male actors with the exception of Gregory Hines, and Michael Beach cannot get past one dimension because the screenplay won't let them utilize all their acting skills. The Wesley Snipes cameo is indicative of what's wrong with this movie; it's a sellout of the original material. And that is the problem with Waiting to Exhale, a horrible script that compromises the artistic integrity of the original book. Terry McMillan and Ron Bass mistranslate a 400+ page deep novel full of three-dimensional characters, subtext and a complex plot into a shallow one-dimensional screenplay that has been sterilized for Hollywood. To really enjoy the story buy the book instead. It pulls no punches and will be far more entertaining.