Waiting to Exhale
Waiting to Exhale
R | 22 December 1995 (USA)
Waiting to Exhale Trailers

Cheated on, mistreated and stepped on, the women are holding their breath, waiting for the elusive "good man" to break a string of less-than-stellar lovers. Friends and confidants Vannah, Bernie, Glo and Robin talk it all out, determined to find a better way to breathe.

Reviews
BlazeLime

Strong and Moving!

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ClassyWas

Excellent, smart action film.

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XoWizIama

Excellent adaptation.

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Frances Chung

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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avenuesf

As a middle-aged man, I found this to be one of the most ridiculous films I've seen in some time. It's basically two hours of one dimensional portrayals of men by women complaining of being seen as one-dimensional by men. One fairly long scene in one of the characters' living room in which they all state their opinions of men flabbergasted me; why would any self-respecting man WANT any of these whining, narcissistic victims in the first place? Performances aside (except for Angela Bassett, who was totally wasted by never changing her angry expression throughout the whole film), the effort is pretty badly written, and the constant message of "those bad, bad males" starts to become tiring after awhile. I didn't find these women "strong..." I found them very entitled and, as another reviewer put it, self-absorbed. I don't think there was one male character in the film who was portrayed sympathetically or in a three-dimensional manner. It's interesting to me that when films like this come out portraying women in the same way, there's quite a brouhaha; when the tables get turned, it's "groundbreaking."

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jazp

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.

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wilycoyote767

If you're a guy you better wear a teflon jockstrap before going to this movie. It is a non stop male bashfest.Wear a fire proof suit to this drivel guys.The acting was bad.The story was ludicrous.Every scene was basically the same.A conversation among several women about how bad men suck.So, if you're feminist or a man hater you will love this gem.Whitney Houston was my favorite plastic statue in this one.I like Hale Berry but she never should have got roped into this.I'd love to have those 90 minutes back of my life.Please.

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gwitherspoon

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?

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