ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 6, 1996 TAG: 9604090049
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
"A Thin Line Between Love and Hate" is a curious combination of "Alfie" and "Fatal Attraction."
Like Michael Caine's '60s anti-hero, Darnell Wright (Martin Lawrence) is an unrepentant lothario who has a slick line for any woman he meets. Brandi Web (Lynn Whitfield) has everything he wants - beauty, wealth and class - and she seems immune to his syrupy charm. Darnell decides that he must have this goddess, even if it means saying "the L word." Love.
While Darnell is pursuing her, an old flame, Mia (Regina King) has just come back to the neighborhood, and he and his friend Tee (Bobby Brown) have been offered a partnership in the nightclub where they work for Smitty (Roger E. Mosley).
Roughly the first half of the film is standard romantic comedy. Lawrence, who also directed and co-wrote, pokes fun at cultural and racial stereotypes. Darnell is a true rat, and Lawrence makes the most of his comic dimensions and his flawed, immature personality.
But the film makes an abrupt and jarring turn when Brandi is transformed from goddess to she-devil. Is it meant to be taken seriously? Has the comedy merely taken a more somber tone? Or are the filmmakers unable to create a strong, realistic female antagonist? Lawrence seems unsure of the material, and the curious conclusion contains no answers.
Fans of "Waiting to Exhale" are not likely to be amused.
A Thin Line Between Love and Hate
**
A New Line release playing at the Valley View 6. 104 min. Rated R for strong language, racial epithets, subject matter, nudity, sexual material, violence.
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Martin Lawrence and Lynn Whitfield play a lothario andby CNBhis prey/stalker in ``A Thin Line Between Love and Hate.'' color.