When her young son goes away from a few weeks to be with his father, Stella feels the void in her life and when an advert for Jamaica comes onto television, she has a momentary flash of madness and rings friend Delilah to ask her to go. Despite changing her mind a second later, Delilah makes her stick to it and soon both the middle-aged women are in Jamaica with a drink in their hands. Delilah starts chasing men, but Stella just wants rest, running and relaxation a plan that changes when she meet the 20 year old Winston who woos, and ultimately beds her. He helps refresh her and she returns home she is a new person, but is it enough to help her cope with the challenges that await her back in the US.
I have watched and enjoyed plenty of "chick flicks" and "weepies" so the vibe surrounding this film didn't put me off from trying it plus I think Bassett is great and always worth seeing. However this film wasn't a problem for me because of genre, it was a problem because none of it rang true and none of it really engaged me on any level. The plot offers the chance for a real character piece on a middle-aged woman but if it even tries then it never gets close because it is so superficial that it doesn't do it in the slightest. However her character doesn't come through at all and it doesn't matter how many times she stares into the Caribbean landscape. The script matches this effort by just letting things happen rather than drawing us into them this is best seen in the death of Delilah, a heartless affair that just left me cold. Likewise the relationship with Winston just didn't convince me or make me care, I was actually surprised at how little that it involved me.
The whole film has this glossy, slick polish and it can even be seen in the choice of music mostly very bland stuff with a sugary core. The direction matches this but it does the job if you are looking for a holiday brochure Jamaica looks beautiful and fun although it does tend to add to the "superficiality without substance" feel of the film. Bassett tries to make it work but without material she can't do it; that is not to say that she doesn't try because she does put a lot into her performance and she was the main reason that I stuck with it. Diggs is a gorgeous man and the film uses his body well but in terms of acting he has been much better elsewhere. Here he can't do the accent and make a person at the same time and sadly he goes for the accent more, he has great physical chemistry with Bassett but when it comes to speaking they show no reason why they would be a couple. Goldberg is poor and (literally) phones some of her performance in before popping her clogs. King provides an ethnic stereotype so general that it is nearly offensive and Douglass does little else other than look beautiful (which she does well admittedly).
Overall a remarkably bland film that just never engaged me at all. The writing and characters are soulless and none of it rings true at any point. It looks nice and it goes through the motions well enough for genre fans but even they may admit that this could and should have been a lot better than it was. A real disappointment of a film that left me with nothing to show for 120 minutes invested in it.
I have watched and enjoyed plenty of "chick flicks" and "weepies" so the vibe surrounding this film didn't put me off from trying it plus I think Bassett is great and always worth seeing. However this film wasn't a problem for me because of genre, it was a problem because none of it rang true and none of it really engaged me on any level. The plot offers the chance for a real character piece on a middle-aged woman but if it even tries then it never gets close because it is so superficial that it doesn't do it in the slightest. However her character doesn't come through at all and it doesn't matter how many times she stares into the Caribbean landscape. The script matches this effort by just letting things happen rather than drawing us into them this is best seen in the death of Delilah, a heartless affair that just left me cold. Likewise the relationship with Winston just didn't convince me or make me care, I was actually surprised at how little that it involved me.
The whole film has this glossy, slick polish and it can even be seen in the choice of music mostly very bland stuff with a sugary core. The direction matches this but it does the job if you are looking for a holiday brochure Jamaica looks beautiful and fun although it does tend to add to the "superficiality without substance" feel of the film. Bassett tries to make it work but without material she can't do it; that is not to say that she doesn't try because she does put a lot into her performance and she was the main reason that I stuck with it. Diggs is a gorgeous man and the film uses his body well but in terms of acting he has been much better elsewhere. Here he can't do the accent and make a person at the same time and sadly he goes for the accent more, he has great physical chemistry with Bassett but when it comes to speaking they show no reason why they would be a couple. Goldberg is poor and (literally) phones some of her performance in before popping her clogs. King provides an ethnic stereotype so general that it is nearly offensive and Douglass does little else other than look beautiful (which she does well admittedly).
Overall a remarkably bland film that just never engaged me at all. The writing and characters are soulless and none of it rings true at any point. It looks nice and it goes through the motions well enough for genre fans but even they may admit that this could and should have been a lot better than it was. A real disappointment of a film that left me with nothing to show for 120 minutes invested in it.