MOVIE REVIEW: WAITING TO EXHALE (1995)

Billed as the next Whitney Houston vehicle after the blockbuster success of The Bodyguard, this film had an event-like aura around it when it was released in theaters. I was young, but the buzz leading up to its release was unavoidable, as was Houston’s contribution to the soundtrack. While the film found support among Black audiences and Whitney Houston fans at large, general audiences didn’t latch onto it like her previous film. It may have underperformed financially, but there is still plenty to like here.

Four friends (all Black women) living in the Phoenix metro area find themselves leaning on each other through times of difficulty. Savannah (W
hitney Houston) realizes that her married lover will never leave his wife for her, so she tries to find meaningful romance on her own terms. Bernadine (Angela Bassett) goes scorched-earth when her husband tells her that he is leaving her for a white woman. Robin dumps her married lover and sets out to find a suitable man. Gloria is a single mother whose world is rocked when her ex-husband reveals to her that he has always been homosexual.

While Houston may be the big draw, Bassett steals every scene she is in. The fury and hurt that she conveys as a woman who set aside her own professional aspirations to support her husband only to be tossed aside like a disposable asset is stunning. I would argue that the other three women should be supporting roles in a film focused on Bassett’s Bernadine. There is power and inspiration left untapped in her part of the story.

As a white person, I am cautious to criticize a piece of Black filmmaking, because I know what I don’t know. There’s nuance, inference, and allusion that my cultural upbringing has blinded me to. I may be missing some of the subtleties that resonate with Black audiences. Just because it’s not part of my lived experience doesn’t mean it’s not real or meaningful for others. I will say, however, that the direction of this film could be improved by having a woman at the helm of this tale of sisterhood instead of a man. This was produced in the early- to mid-90s, however, so that was probably never an option. This was also Forest Whitaker’s first directorial effort, so maybe this film needed someone with more experience to really do these ladies justice.

This film is about the twists and turns on the road of life. Sometimes, that road has a happy conclusion for all passengers, but that’s usually the exception rather than the rule. Perhaps this film errs in trying to have too many things tie up in nice, neat bows by the end of the film. It’s okay to leave somethings messy and uncertain. You don’t always have to give the audience what they want. In that regard, Waiting to Exhale is a pretty good movie elevated to engaging status by virtue of Bassett’s performance.

FINAL RATING: 3.5 out of 5