THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 27, 1995 TAG: 9512270261
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
GOING ON the premise that ``Waiting to Exhale'' is aimed at women, here's a quiz to determine whether you, girl friend, should buy a ticket. Choose, honestly, based on your opinion of men in the 1990s:
A) A man is a trusting, supportive life partner who honors and cherishes a woman.
B) A man is a liar and cheat who will even promise commitment to get sex, and then usually leaves.
If your answer is B, you'll have a grand time cheering on the four African-American heroines of ``Waiting to Exhale,'' a film that fitfully attempts to poloraize its audience, but is too often no more than four glitzy soap operas.
Much of the anger and brittle comedy of Terry McMillain's novel has been softened in an effort to make a hit movie and reach a larger audience.
With the help of a hit single from co-star Whitney Houston, the film was eagerly awaited as a long-overdue treatment of upper scale African-American women. In another age, it would be something like ``Three Coins in the Fountain'' - smart women in search of men they can, at the least, tolerate.
In the movie's most active scene, Angela Bassett reacts to the fact that her husband of 11 years, who has helped her establish a successful business, dumps her for another woman. On top of that, he doesn't want to give her a decent divorce settlement. She dumps expensive suits into his chic sports car, then torches the whole thing. Women in the audience cheered.
Ironically, the film is great fun when it is outright in its male-bashing. After all, if you're going to make a movie of this book, there's no point in being subtle. One wishes there were more comedic moments.
The trouble is it isn't long before the character, played so well by the gifted Bassett, says something like, ``I'm afraid of being alone.''
Ultimately, ``Waiting to Exhale'' seems to be saying that smart women make dumb decisions when it comes to men.
Houston, a good deal looser than she was in ``The Bodyguard,'' is still far from becoming an actress. She plays Savannah, who travels to Phoenix to be with her friends and find a job in TV production. ``All the men in Denver are dead,'' she says. Her smug, married lover keeps putting off his divorce. Her bossy mother tells her to remain patient. Houston's natural charisma isn't enough to get her by when she's asked to play actual drama.
Loretta Devine (a Tony nominee for ``Dreamgirls'') is the most appealing of the four - an overweight, successful, beautician who has raised a 17-year-old son since her bisexual husband left. She suffers from severe loneliness and lack of self-esteem, but she has her eyes set on the man next door.
Lela Rochon is Robin, the sexy one. She likes the cute guys, but when they aren't around, she'll settle for who's left.
But it is the spitfire of Bassett that gives the movie its dramatic backbone. She has a tremendous scene with an understanding man who is in love with her, but won't cheat on his dying wife. (He's played, in an unbilled cameo, by one of today's macho action stars. No, we won't reveal his identity.)
Forest Whitaker (``Bird,'' ``The Crying Game'') makes his feature-film directing debut. Apparently, he was so worried about holding these stories together that he didn't have time to decide if he wanted comedy or drama.
Even so, it is a good deal more entertaining than the recent ``How to Make an American Quilt'' in which all men either died or left. Here, the call is for sisterhood, with the idea that by supporting each other, the search for Mr. Right can be pursued with dignity.
Ticketbuyers will find a party-time movie, but the storytelling is limited to vignettes rather than real force. Still, you get the idea ``Waiting to Exhale'' wants to get serious about its important issues: communication between people, and finding someone to love.
In the end, there is a hint of hope, but the film is a pleasant diversion rather than a dramatic challenge. MEMO: Mal's rating: two and a half stars
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Whitney Houston, left, and Angela Bassett star in the latest movie
to explore sisterhood.
by CNB