Waiting to Exhale (1995)

Regista:

Forest Whitaker

Writers (WGA):

Terry McMillan (novel)
Terry McMillan (screenplay) ...

Data di uscita:

22 dicembre 1995 (USA)

Genere:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Slogan:

Friends are the people who let you be yourself... and never let you forget it.

Plot:

Based on Terry McMillan's novel, this film follows four very different African-American women and their relationships with the male gender.

Plot Keywords:

Adultery | African American | New Year's Eve | Human Relationship | Single Mother

Premi:

8 wins & 8 nominations

Recensioni degli utenti:

Don't Exhale Just Yet

Cast

Whitney Houston	...	Savannah 'Vannah' Jackson
Angela Bassett	...	Bernadine 'Bernie' Harris
Loretta Devine	...	Gloria 'Glo' Matthews
Lela Rochon	...	Robin Stokes
Gregory Hines	...	Marvin King
Dennis Haysbert	...	Kenneth Dawkins
Mykelti Williamson	...	Troy
Michael Beach	...	John Harris, Sr.
Leon	...	Russell
Wendell Pierce	...	Michael Davenport
Donald Faison	...	Tarik Matthews
Jeffrey D. Sams	...	Lionel
Jazz Raycole	...	Onika Harris
Brandon Hammond	...	John Harris, Jr.
Kenya Moore	...	Denise

Alias:

Donne (Italy) [it]

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some strong sexuality.

Durata:

127 min

Nazionalità:

USA

Lingua:

Inglese

Colore:

Colore

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sonoro:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Divieti:

South Korea:18 | Germany:12 (f) | Philippines:R-18 | Iceland:L | Singapore:M18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Chile:18 | Finland:K-12 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R

Luoghi delle riprese:

Chandler, Arizona, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Curiosità:

Forest Whitaker stated in an interview with Ebony Magazine that Robin Givens and Halle Berry were among the women who auditioned for the role of Robin. After casting Angela Bassett and Whitney Houston, he decided to go with relative unknowns for the other two roles, and the role of Robin was subsequently given to Lela Rochon.

Errori:

Continuity: When Bernie meets James Wheeler in the hotel bar, his hands keep changing their position on the bar between shots.

Citazioni:

Troy: You black bitches are all the same.
Robin: Bitch?
Troy: Y'all always complaining about how nobody don't want your ass, don't nobody know how to treat ya! Then you meet a man, a brother, with genuine interest in ya, and you gotta act simple. Then you wonder why we date white women.
Robin: A white woman can have your sorry ass!

Movie Connections:

Citato in Big Momma's House 2 (2006)

Colonna sonora:

That Shit Turns Me On

Don't Exhale Just Yet

I have the video of this movie and it grew on me as time passed. It's not a great movie but it is enjoyable and as has been pointed out by others, 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?