Don't Exhale Yet, Movie's No Gem
Film Falls Short Of Answering Call

Date: December 22, 1995
By Tonya Pendleton, Staff Writer

From Philadelphia Daily News
Submitted by: Larry A.


"Waiting to Exhale," billed as the first Hollywood film to prominently feature contemporary African-American women, proves to be a letdown. Based on Terry McMillan's 1992 bestseller, it doesn't translate smoothly from paper to celluloid.

McMillan adapted her work with Ron Bass, who successfully collaborated with Amy Tan for the film version of "The Joy Luck Club." But "Exhale" doesn't work as well, perhaps because the film doesn't paint a complete enough picture of the four women whose lives we're supposed to care about.

The film spans a year in the lives and loves of four Phoenix women. The men in their lives may not be dependable, but the women can always count on each other. "Waiting to Exhale" has a quality cast. Oscar nominee Angela Bassett is the soon-to-be-divorced Bernadine, singer/actress Whitney Houston is Savannah, who's incapable of finding a decent guy, former "Dreamgirl" Loretta Devine is the self-sacrificing Gloria and "Boomerang's" Lela Rochon is Robin, a victim of her own naivete. Some of Hollywood's most-talented black actors appear in the film, too - Gregory Hines, Leon, Donald Faison, Michael Beach, Mykelti Williamson and Dennis Haysbert.

The film is unsparing in its portrayal of men, some of whom will no doubt deny that any of these guys exist. The male-bashing accusations are sure to fly because the men, both good and bad, appear so briefly in the film that we don't have time to form much of an impression of them. And we don't come to know the women well enough to understand why they've made such bad choices.

Bernadine's story is the only one that makes an emotional connection. We know her husband's a jerk if only be-cause of the anal-retentive way he arranges his designer suits in his walk-in closet. And Bassett, truly the best thing about "Waiting to Exhale," imbues Bernadine with all the ugly emotions that go along with betrayal - something many of us can relate to.

Actor Forest Whitaker was a surprise choice as director, making his feature film debut. Although Whitaker's a sensitive actor, his lack of directing experience is apparent. Scenes shift too abruptly, Bernadine's children are treated as props who never change out of their school uniforms, and the incessant musical track makes the film feel like a too-long music video.

And while "Exhale" has several genuinely funny moments, they are delivered with the subtlety of a battering ram.

Funny vignettes strung together do not a cohesive film make. And they're done at the expense of what made the book so good - the sense of sisterhood that sustains these women through times happy and sad.

Many will find "Waiting to Exhale," enjoyable if for no other reason than to see black women and men staring back at them from a film screen with a plot that has nothing to do with guns, drugs or the 'hood.

But for those of us looking for a quality film starring black women, we are still, unfortunately, waiting to exhale.

WAITING TO EXHALE * * 1/2