Waiting To Exhale (1995)

"There are some humorous observations, irrefutable truths and good performances that make this movie worthwhile to those in a man-bashing mindframe.  Christine James, Boxoffice Magazine
"...fluid and emotional, thanks to a crisp, witty script by McMillan and Ronald (Rain Man) Bass...and sensitive direction by Forest Whitaker.  Desson Howe, The Washington Post
"...a winning portrait of sassy black sister solidarity.  Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
"...a glamorous, lush, romantic film.  Los Angeles Times
"Angela Bassett as Bernadine ignites the screen like an acetylene torch.  Susan Wloszczyna, USA Today

Editor's Note Four African American women commiserate about the men in their lives after one of them is abandoned by her philandering husband. A well-received adaptation of Terry McMillan's best-selling 1992 novel.

	Wesley Snipes
	Dennis Haysbert
	Michael Beach
	Loretta Devine
	Gregory Hines
	Lela Rochon
	Angela Bassett
	Mykelti Williamson
	Whitney Houston
	Forest Whitaker - Director

The adaptation of Terry McMillan's best-selling novel, about four middle-class, African-American friends, and their continuing efforts to find Mr. Right.| The story begins with Bernadine, whose husband John calmly announces that he's leaving her -- for a white woman. Furthermore, the wealthy John has been manipulating his finances, and leaves Bernadine virtually broke. But Bernie gets her revenge, in a rather "fiery" fashion. Then there's Savannah, who re-ignites a relationship with her ex-boyfriend, who's married with children. Meanwhile, dim-bulb Robin dates hordes of Mr. Wrongs before going back to Russell, who's also married. Will either come to her senses? Finally, portly, single mom Gloria gave up on finding a man years ago, concentrating instead on raising her son. Ironically, it is she who finds love, with her new neighbor.| For these women, finding a man is secondary to one thing: their close love and affection for one another. And it is this bond that helps them get through the pain and heartache of their lives. Rolling Stone
"...The cast is a pleasure....A seamless whole that goes down like the sweetest, slickest video you ever saw..." 12/28/1995 p.138-9

Sight and Sound
"....[Angela Bassett] turns in quite a powerful performance..." 02/01/1996 p.56

Entertainment Weekly
"...An exhilarating blast...[with a] strong cast..." -- Rating: B 01/19/1996 p.41

Variety
"...An appealing cast and skilled and imaginative direction by Forest Whitaker....Bassett again proves her gifts with a performance at once fiery and delicate..." 12/18/1995

Los Angeles Times
"...Pleasant....Grounded in a smooth, wall-to-wall soundtrack written by Kenneth 'Babyface" Edmonds....WAITING TO EXHALE is easy listening for the eyes..." 12/22/1995 p.F1

Chicago Sun-Times
"...This is a debut directing job by Forest Whitaker, and somehow the tone of the film resembles his own acting: measured, serene, confident..." 12/22/1995 p.39

ReelViews 6 of 10
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...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...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

Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
Terry McMillan's Waiting to Exhale mesmerized its readers with vivid descriptions of what a black woman wants in her man, and how hard it is to find it. Women loved it; men were not so thrilled. A friend of mine suggested that the male version of Waiting to Exhale would be much shorter: "What I'm looking for in a woman is someone who's great in bed, and then turns into a six-pack and a pizza." That is, of course, exactly the problem: The women in Waiting to Exhale are tired of being treated as disposable commodities by men who will tell them anything before sex and have nothing to say afterward...As the movie version opens, broadcast executive Savannah (Whitney Houston) is driving from Denver, where there are apparently no men worth having, to Phoenix, where she hopes there are...This is a debut directing job by Forest Whitaker, and somehow the tone of the film resembles his own acting: measured, serene, confident. I am not sure that is always the right tone, however. There are times when the material needs more sharpness, harder edges and bitter satire instead of bemused observation..."Waiting to Exhale" is not really an assault on black men (and men in general), but an escapist fantasy that women in the audience can enjoy by musing, "I wish I had her problems" - and her car, house, wardrobe, figure and men, even wrong men...On that level, of soap opera and sociological melodrama, however, the movie does work. I was never bored. Occasionally one of the actresses broke out of the mold, as when Bassett coolly dealt with the firemen after torching her husband's car, and I got a glimpse of the energies that could be unleashed in this material. But for the most part, the movie's content to be an entertainment with a women's magazine angle; its patron saint could be Mae West, who wanted more men in her life, and more life in her men. - Roger Ebert