‘Bridges,’ ‘Exhale’ Deserve Applause, Maybe Not Oscars
Two of this week’s major releases ranked among the more successful films of 1995, earning both satisfactory reviews and relatively good box office receipts.
One, “The Bridges of Madison County,” even earned an Oscar nomination for its female lead, Meryl Streep.
However, the fact that the other, the African-American study “Waiting to Exhale,” attracted no Oscar attention at all became a matter of controversy.
People magazine offered a simple answer for such an oversight. It was racism, the magazine accused, pure and simple.
Fans of “Waiting to Exhale” bemoaned the lack of an Oscar nomination for Angela Bassett, a past Best Actress nominee for “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” Some critics said that Whitney Houston may have deserved one as well.
But the academy, working its own agenda, ignored them both - along with the film’s musical score, which resulted in a best-selling CD compilation.
Given all this, there was very little chance, in the end, of the film receiving a Best Picture nod.
The operative question, though, involves the attitude that People adopts so glibly: Does the Academy ignoring “Waiting to Exhale” amount to racism?
It’s not as if racism doesn’t exist in Hollywood. So does sexism, gay-bashing, age prejudice and any number of other biases. And it’s not as if we haven’t seen, over the years, second-rate films, not to mention performances, rewarded with Oscars.
But the Academy’s overlooking of “Waiting to Exhale” is likely more just an acknowledgment that the film is good but not great.
Just as “Bridges,” with Clint Eastwood exploring his gentle side and Streep breathing life into a troubled farmer’s wife, is good but not great.
Who would have thought that Eastwood, even if his image has softened in recent years, might be the perfect director for Robert James Waller’s steamy best-seller?
And who would suspect that Forest Whitaker, a fine actor, would succeed so well in adapting a popular novel for the big screen?
Such feats deserve applause.
But not necessarily Oscars.
The Bridges of Madison County ***
In another departure from his macho style of filmmaking, Clint Eastwood takes Robert James Waller’s steamy novelette and turns it into a serious study of one woman’s momentary grasp for that ephemeral notion called love. Eastwood, who both directs and stars as National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid, is fine - even if he is 10 years too old for the role.
Meryl Streep, however, is back in accent and as good as ever as the Iowa housewife who falls for Kincaid’s charm. You can feel the deep-seated frustration of her character virtually waft off the screen. Eastwood’s pacing, which is steady and stately, gives greater meaning than you might think possible to an attempt by two people to turn a four-day affair into a whole lifetime. Rated PG-13
Waiting to Exhale ***
In his first directorial effort, Forest Whitaker adapts Terry McMillen’s novel about four black women struggling to find love and meaning in the 1990s. It’s an uneven effort, both in tone and acting quality, ranging from the angst-ridden saga of a broken marriage (Angela Bassett) to the silly friend (Lela Rochon) who keeps throwing herself at men who just use her up and throw her away.
But Whitaker keeps things moving, Bassett and Wesley Snipes smoke up the screen and Whitney Houston continues to entice us with her growing ability to play a character. The biggest complaint about this film, which had critics complaining about what many saw as its anti-male theme, is wrong-headed: Since these are the men that these women choose, their hardships in love say as much about them in particular as about men in general. Rated R
Steal Big, Steal Little *-1/2
Andy Garcia stars as twins, one of whom is a decent man, the other of whom is a con artist. Both want to control the 40,000-acre Santa Barbara-area estate their stepmother left in her will. The decent man wants it for his extended family; the con artist wants to turn it into a rich-person’s playground.
Director Andrew Davis, who was so good at capturing action in the remake of “The Fugitive,” fails miserably here. Too many plot points, too little characterization and too much cuteness sinks the project into the bright Southern California mud. Rated PG-13
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: “Waiting to Exhale” stars Angela Bassett and Whitney Houston.