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| | Description | Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett star in this funny and touching film about four women who find strength through their rare and special relationship. Savannah, Bernadine, Robin and Gloria are all searching for the Real Thing: true love. Bernadine though | |
| | Product Details | | Actors: | Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, Lela Rochon, Gregory Hines | | Director: | Forest Whitaker | | Format: | Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC | | Language: | English | | Number of Discs: | 1 | | Studio: | 20th Century Fox | | Run Time: | 127 minutes | | DVD Release Date: | March 06, 2001 | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 81 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review: ( 81 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 29 found the following review helpful:
A HUMAN STORY Sep 14, 2001
By EriKa
"E"
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.
18 of 19 found the following review helpful:
Inhale. Exhale. Repeat. Sep 29, 2002
By The Groove
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.
11 of 11 found the following review helpful:
Great Film But Some Content is Diconcerning Sep 21, 2004
By Kathie Klein
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.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Understanding! Mar 09, 2007
By K. Gordon
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.
5 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 three Stars for Angela bassett. Buy the book instead. Jul 31, 2003
By SHAWN JAMES
"Amateur Film critic"
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.
See all 81 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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