Waiting to Exhale (1995)

It feels good to see a movie about women of color for a change. However, the movie would not have been watchable without the formidable talents of Angela Bassett and Loretta Devine. I felt that they really were Bernadine and Gloria -- even their smallest gestures were in tune with their characters. I don't have the words to describe what fine actors these ladies are and their skills are right up there with Debra Winger, Holly Hunter, Alfre Woodard and others.Gloria seemed to be the only moral woman in the lot. She was adorable as an overweight, insecure no-nonsense business woman and mother. She didn't think she was worthy of love because of her weight, but she was the only one who found it (and deserved it). She was the only one who didn't sleep around, wasn't a man basher, set a good example for her son, and gave good advice to her girlfriends. The other three could learn a lot from her. Loretta Devine has a really beautiful face -- look past the weight and for those of you who judge people by such things, her skin color. She has wonderfully expressive eyes and attractive features. I think it was noteworthy that Gregory Hines' character saw her real beauty and responded to it. His character was a decent, good man and I'm glad this was addressed in the movie.Angela Bassett has always been one of my favorite actors. She is the total package --- beauty and talent. Her character wasn't perfect but Bernadine did take responsibility for the mistakes she made in her life. She was so much better off without that reprehensible excuse for a husband in her life - she could now start her catering business, she had a possible new love in her future and she had good friends that would always be there for her. I was as happy for her as if I were really one of her girlfriends when things turned out well for her in the end.Lela Rochon didn't display any acting talent here and wasn't quite up to the job of conveying Robin's vulnerability and immaturity. She was little more than a tearaway that slept around and made dumb choices. In the book, you realized that Robin had a lot of love to give a man and didn't seem to know how to choose a good one to bestow it on. She was obviously beautiful and decently educated but she lacked common sense and had never really gotten over her betrayal by a man she had really loved. Her mother was a cancer survivor and her father suffered from advance Alzheimer's disease. I don't feel they rounded out this character at all and she didn't seem like an actual person. Just a cute slut who wondered why she got used by men.Poor Whitney has no acting skills whatsoever! Every character she attempts to portray is exactly the same -- Whitney Houston being well groomed, pretending to be well spoken and classy, and looking cow eyed at whatever male actor she is paired with. Its a shame because Savannah should have been played by someone like Angela Bassett or Kimberly Elise (although she might have been too young). The character had to tell us she was smart -- in a phone conversation with her mother she said "I'm smart, I'm a good person and I work hard." Thank goodness she told us because we sure wouldn't have known otherwise. She has sex with a man she doesn't like at all and doesn't even know well and then has an affair with a married man and calls him scum! She has poor conversational skills, doesn't really seem interested in her friends'problems and preferred to roll her big eyes and act as if she were so above whatever little difficulties they were going through. Savannah would be such a waste of time for any man unless she took a long hard look at herself. She deserved to be by herself at the end.This movie might have been better with a female director, as Forest Whitaker didn't "tell this story" properly at all. We ended up not liking or caring about the characters because we really didn't get a strong sense of who they were.Also, was it me, or was everything in this movie either orange or blue?

While this movie truly is bound to be more appealing to women than men, it is a touching story of four best friends. How they stick together and grow together through life's mistakes, joys, and bad taste in men. I love Angela Bassett and she is outstanding in this movie. The other 3 ladies, Whitney,Lela, and Loretta do great jobs too. This movie is filled with sweet moments, great laughter, and maybe some tears. Just a wonderful movie that shows what friendship is about. I have not read the book, but I have heard many times that the book is better... but hey thats true for almost every book turned movie. So all I know is I love this movie, and every time I watch it, it gives me great pleasure. Not too mention the soundtrack is fabulous! Whitney, Brandy, Babyface,Faith Evans,and Mary J Blige make the music in the film absolutely great.

Predictable, full of every soppy sad tragic story you've seen on the soaps. You know who is going to sleep with whom, you know they shouldn't, you know what the outcome will be. You could write the dialogue yourself, if you've ever seen even a week's worth of soap operas. You either want to leave the room, or turn the channel, it's so soppy and predictable. Of course they all turn out to be strong women in the end; it was written during that era. Of course 99% of the men are jerks; it was written during that era. Of course all the women are fantastically beautiful; you wouldn't put up with this movie if they looked like real, every-day women. The saddest thing about the movie is how beautiful Whitney Houston used to be before drugs and her husband ruined her.

This is an absolutely wonderful movie. Waiting to Exhale stars Angela Bassett, Whitney Houston, Loretta Devine, and Lela Rochon. This movie is about four women who find strength through their rare and special friendship. One woman, Bernadine (Bassett) thought she had love in her life until she found out from her husband that he was leaving her for a white woman (Whoa, hello!! He told her this on New Year's Eve!! He's no gentleman there!), and got back at him. When I first saw the scene where she cleans out her husband's clothes closet (while throwing a screaming fit) and burns them in his car, I thought it was so funny. She really got back at him. There was another scene where she went to his workplace to talk to him by interrupting a meeting he was conducting, walking up to the white gal he's seeing, asks her if she can have a few minutes alone with him, and slapping her in the face in everyone's presence without waiting for an answer, and then goes off on him. Talk about getting revenge; she had guts!!! Gloria (Devine) was so sweet as the lady with her hairdressing place and trying to deal with her teenage son, and getting romantically involved with a man that moved in across the street. Robin and Savannah (Rochon and Houston) were the ones successful in business, but their love lives were down to almost nothing. I don't care what anyone thinks of this movie. It is truly worth watching. I think Whitney Houston was marvelous in her role as Savannah. The soundtrack album to this movie is okay; I only like the Whitney tracks, especially the first one Exhale (Shoop, Shoop), which has a neat easy listening sound to it. I DO NOT like the track done by TLC (Track 6: This is How it Works). That is an inappropriate song to listen to. I know what the lyrics of that song describe, and I won't get into it. Anyway, get this movie and prepare yourself for some laughter and a few tears here and there. If you want to get the soundtrack, too, that is fine. But don't try to get hooked on the TLC track, though!