Diractors is an ongoing series in which Hassle writer Jack Draper examines films, new and old, whose directors are better known for their work in front of the camera.
As different generations grow up, its a common realization that men skate by on the bare minimum, while women’s expectations remain unmet. As documents like Waiting to Exhale show, little has changed in this dynamic over the past thirty years. We can put a blindfold on and throw a dart at many romance films to show us how men fail women who are ready to love them. Seeing that idea crystallized in a modern lens with successful Black women at the center means something already greater than the sum of its parts.
As a filmmaker, Forest Whitaker has an interesting blend of Charles Burnett films and soap opera. The heat of Phoenix (where’s a list of Arizona cinema?) brings the tension, sexual or otherwise, to a boil when there’s more to life than just to settle. There’s no corner-cutting here of how men are villainized– that’s evident in the text– but rather how these problems are enviable while not easily solvable. Yet Waiting to Exhale’s strength comes from how your desired friend group lifts you up from any romantic engagement.
Forest Whitaker’s directorial debut is in harmony with Terry McMillan’s novel. Whitaker and McMillan open with Savannah (Whitney Houston) driving from Denver, where no men are of worth, back to Phoenix, where she’s hoping there are possible matches. Soon she’s playing hostess in her new home to a married man who has been saying for years he’s about to leave his wife. Also in Phoenix are her three best girlfriends: Bernadine (Angela Bassett), whose husband is about to leave her for his white secretary; Gloria (Loretta Devine), who has centered her life around her son, putting on pounds in the meantime; and Robin (Lela Rochon), successful in business but not in love. The men pop in and out of the movie as if it’s their turn for hard conversations. Savannah may always have Kenneth (Dennis Haysbert) in her life; he flies in several times a year, telling suave lies to his wife on a cellular phone while promising Savannah that a divorce is imminent (lmao). Gloria is still a fine-looking woman, despite her extra weight, but has centered her life on her son, Tarik (Donald Adeosun Faison), ever since her divorce. Now she’s in a state of quiet panic as he prepares to leave for a year in Europe and no preparation for becoming an empty nester. Then a single man (Gregory Hines) moves in across the street, and likes “a little meat on a woman,” and furthermore is a homebody and handyman.
Despite seeking out and enjoying the film before, I’d never thought of the Sex and the City comparisons until reading reviews like this one from Carol V. Bell. I and others under 30 today will take for granted the radical feminism it takes to show women talking about and achieving romantic desires while clearly never getting the man’s perspective. Hell, not even the white perspective. City is given a lot more runway to breathe and elaborate as to why it means too many of the girls not to settle, even though something like the amazing Wesley Snipes scene accomplishes this in an uncredited appearance versus an entire season of Carrie making a fool of herself. Or the catharsis of Gloria apologizing to Marvin who suggested to her that her son should experience the world, not to be sheltered by his mom. Yet its compromise that they show is all it takes for Exhale’s version of codependency to congeal.
As Roger Ebert said in his review from the time, “This is a debut directing job by Forest Whitaker, and somehow the tone of the film resembles his own acting: measured, serene, confident. I am not sure that is always the right tone, however. There are times when the material needs more sharpness, harder edges and bitter satire instead of bemused observation. This is all really well observed.” Leave it to Roger to be spot on here. Forest is one of the greats, but not consistently celebrated like Denzel Washington or Sidney Poitier I feel. I don’t think his leading roles of Bird, Ghost Dog or even Last King of Scotland have really pierced the public consciousness like the other actors mentioned have. Forest has this contemplative and chill direction here that notably doesn’t have himself playing any of the men. While he isn’t the kind of public figure to where we can psychologize him playing Marvin or Kenneth in a way to manufacture a new image to himself, I think it shows once more how much of a selfless performer he is on screen now as a filmmaker. Staying true to the material and showing talent as an actors director sometimes.
Waiting to Exhale
1995
dir. Forest Whitaker
124 min.
Currently streaming on Hulu, Starz, and Philo
