Waiting to Exhale (1995)

Director:

Forest Whitaker

Writers (WGA):

Terry McMillan (novel)
Terry McMillan (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

22 December 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Friends are the people who let you be yourself... and never let you forget it.

Plot:

Based on Terry McMillan's novel, this film follows four very different African-American women and their relationships with the male gender.

Plot Keywords:

African American | Single Mother | Human Relationship | Interracial Relationship | Divorce

Awards:

8 wins & 8 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Fri. Jan. 1	11:00 PM	BRAVO
Sat. Jan. 2	1:30 AM	BRAVO

Cast

Whitney Houston	...	Savannah 'Vannah' Jackson
Angela Bassett	...	Bernadine 'Bernie' Harris
Loretta Devine	...	Gloria 'Glo' Matthews
Lela Rochon	...	Robin Stokes
Gregory Hines	...	Marvin King
Dennis Haysbert	...	Kenneth Dawkins
Mykelti Williamson	...	Troy
Michael Beach	...	John Harris, Sr.
Leon	...	Russell
Wendell Pierce	...	Michael Davenport
Donald Faison	...	Tarik Matthews
Jeffrey D. Sams	...	Lionel
Jazz Raycole	...	Onika Harris
Brandon Hammond	...	John Harris, Jr.
Kenya Moore	...	Denise

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some strong sexuality.

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Iceland:L | South Korea:18 | Germany:12 (f) | Philippines:R-18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Chile:18 | Finland:K-12 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Chandler, Arizona, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Forest Whitaker stated in an interview with Ebony Magazine that Robin Givens and Halle Berry were among the women who auditioned for the role of Robin. After casting Angela Bassett and Whitney Houston, he decided to go with relative unknowns for the other two roles, and the role of Robin was subsequently given to Lela Rochon.

Goofs:

Continuity: Gloria's right earring appears and disappears during her conversation with her ex-husband about their son.

Quotes:

Troy: You black bitches are all the same.
Robin: Bitch?
Troy: Y'all always complaining about how nobody don't want your ass, don't nobody know how to treat ya! Then you meet a man, a brother, with genuine interest in ya, and you gotta act simple. Then you wonder why we date white women.
Robin: A white woman can have your sorry ass!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Just Shoot Me!: A Night at the Plaza (#5.2)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

Lovin' You

Good movie

This was a good movie, even though I'm not the target audience. It's nice to see that black women had a movie about them, and thanks to the star power of Whitney Houston it became no.1 and was a big hit. I am actually tired of reading little comments saying that Whitney isn't that good of an actress because all of those comments are based on the fact that she's a singer. If she wasn't a famous singer, nobody would say anything bad about her acting. IMO, she acted very well just like in all her movies, she's not an oscar caliber actress (very few are) but she definitely has screen presence, charisma and gets the job done. Stop hating her because she's a singer, unlike Madonna or Mariah, Whitney at least did some quality work with some quality people, and she hasn't had flops & horrible movies.