IMDb > Waiting to Exhale (1995)
Waiting to Exhale
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Waiting to Exhale (1995) More at IMDbPro »

Videos (see all 3)
Waiting to Exhale (1995) -- Based on Terry McMillan's novel, this film follows four very different African-American women and their relationships with the male gender.
Waiting to Exhale (1995) -- Sinematurk - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
4.9/10   3,489 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 24% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Forest Whitaker
Writers (WGA):
Terry McMillan (novel)
Terry McMillan (screenplay) ...
more
Contact:
View company contact information for Waiting to Exhale on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
22 December 1995 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy | Drama | Romance more
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. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
8 wins & 8 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(11 articles)
Stage & Screen Star Loretta Devine Debuts Night Devine at Upright Cabaret 12/4-6
 (From BroadwayWorld.com. 18 November 2009, 10:45 PM, PST)
Entertainment Weekly Lists the 25 Best Soundtracks from the Past 25 Years
 (From Collider.com. 3 November 2009, 2:34 PM, PST)
User Comments:
Don't Exhale Just Yet more (46 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for language and some strong sexuality.
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
127 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
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 more
Company:
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Director Forest Whitaker was the unanimous first choice of the film's producers and screenwriters. more
Goofs:
Continuity: Vannah's necklace is outside then inside then outside of her top at Glo's birthday party. more
Quotes:
Gloria: Would you like to have dinner with us tonight? It's just leftovers. Collard greens and corn bread, some candied yams, a little potato salad, fried chicken, peach cobbler and a few slices of ham.
Marvin: I would love to, but I've got so much to do around here. Maybe some other time.
Gloria: To be honest, I don't have no business eating any of it as big as I am.
Marvin: My wife was a big woman too. I like a woman with some meat on her bones.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Century of Black Cinema (2003) (V) more
Soundtrack:
This Is How It Works more

FAQ

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
10 out of 15 people found the following comment useful.
Don't Exhale Just Yet, 27 July 2005
7/10
Author: gwitherspoon from United States

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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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Waiting to Exhale (1995)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
The black man, white woman, thing is over done !!! afro_747
Was Russell abusive as well rndicenso
It Might Be You BenjCarr
Who Played Bernie's Lawyer? ixshan
Who's the father monarchgirl-1
Why did Robin + Michael break up? AMBROSIA992
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