Rating: 
Summary: A HUMAN STORY
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Blah Blah Blah @ The Critiquing Of This Movie
Review: This is a great movie, will definately keep you laughing at the Diva's in this movie. So what the movie is not as good and thorough as the book(what movie is?) I mean if you want ever detailed in a book put on screen then we will still be sitting in the movie theatre trying to see the end.
Rating:
Summary: Blah Blah Blah @ The Critiquing Of This Movie
Review: This is a great movie, will definately keep you laughing at the Diva's in this movie. So what the movie is not as good and thorough as the book(what movie is?) I mean if you want ever detailed in a book put on screen then we will still be sitting in the movie theatre trying to see the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Blah, chick-flick or not (and I'm a chick) this movie is sap
Review: This movie was too sappy, even for me. For those who say it's pretty much a chick-flick? Perhaps for the "chicks who live for men club", maybe, but not for this chick. It was like bathing in Masengil...
Rating:
Summary: good
Review: This should have been better but Angela Bassett's performance was the best, so I guess it's worth a watch.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Whitney movie!
Review: This was a great Whitney movie. She did a great job and so did all the others. I feel that some people are unfair towards Whitney, sure she's not an oscar caliber actress, but she definitly is a GOOD ACTRESS. I really also liked her acting in The Bodyguard and The Preacher's Wife. All her 3 movies were good. The movie was funny, touching and I didn't find it to be male bashing but rather about experiences of a group of women friends. I am also happy that it was a great success at the box office because it's rare that a movie about black women can go no.1, but thanks to the star power of Whitney Houston, it debuted at no.1 and was a big hit despite being released in limited theaters because it's a black movie who are a minority in the US in terms of numbers. By the way, Wesley Snipes is in the movie, he chose not to be credited but he's there for several minutes.
Rating: 
Summary: three Stars for Angela bassett. Buy the book instead.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: The ultimate black woman empowering film!
Review: When you want to invite your sistas over for a girls night out, you should watch this movie! I love the fact that every woman had their own problems and that, instead of sitting around moping about it, they did something! This did not put the usual stereotype on black women as some other movies may have. I was tired of seeing all of these female-bonding movies with white women. Without this movie, "Soulfood" might not have never been made.
Rating:
Summary: Not What I Anticipated
Review: While this wasn't a bad movie, I was personally disappointed. After reading the book, I couldn't wait for the movie to be filmed.I think the movie characters lacked the depth that the book characters did. I realize that certain things have to be edited out to make this a feature length but certain things could have been left in. The character of Samantha lacked the spunk that I expected. The character of Robin, came across as very shallow (while that was the gist of her charcter, the love of her family was not mentioned). The movied appeared to be the "man bashing" item the book had been dubbed. I think the performances were quite memorable, especially Angela Bassett and Loretta Devine. I think Whitney Houston was a terrible casting move. I think a more talented actress would have been better suited for this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Good music, beautiful actresses, DUMB movie!
Review: Why would women as beautiful as Whitney, Angela and Lela sleep with men who are obviously either jerks or otherwise engaged? So they can sit around and cry and feel sorry for themselves when these guys (what a shocker!) turn out to be just as rotten as the audience knew they were from the beginning.
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