Rating:
Director: Michael Apted
Producers: Rob Cowen, Irwin Winkler
Writer: Nicholas Kazan
Director of Photography: Rogier Stoffers
Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Billy Campbell, Juliette Lewis, Noah Wyle
| ENOUGH Rating: Director: Michael Apted Producers: Rob Cowen, Irwin Winkler Writer: Nicholas Kazan Director of Photography: Rogier Stoffers Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Billy Campbell, Juliette Lewis, Noah Wyle |
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Review by: Dan
Tester
5/25/02
Some movies are just "movie dumb." "Movie dumb" is a phenomenon that has become quite common, I would surmise, based on the huge amount of recycled plot material in Hollywood, and a vain attempt to make each one seem somewhat original. Not much of what happens in them makes a whole lot of logical sense, but logic is apparently not a motivation for the filmmakers of movies like Enough, the new Jennifer Lopez thriller. Just a beat-by-beat, passionless display of scenes, with an ending that is, although highly implausible, a different "take."
Lopez plays a single waitress named Slim (of all things) who can't seem to find a man. The premise of the film is not that she can't find "Mr. Right," but she simply can't find any man. This is a problem for me. Jennifer Lopez is constantly voted one of the "Sexiest Women in the World," but apparently in the world of Enough, she is just not desirable. It is laughable to cast Lopez in this way, especially due to the fact that it makes no difference to the overall story. Even slightly frumped down, Jennifer Lopez is still hotter than every greasy spoon waitress I have come across, most of whom resemble Ma Kettle. And throw Juliette Lewis into the mix, as the cute but standard, sarcastic waitress friend of Lopez, and one must imagine this diner should be giving Hooters a run for its money. But in this world, Slim is apparently not given a second glance. As a side note, as I was exiting the theater in my local multiplex, I spotted supermodel Tyra Banks excitedly bouncing down the hallway toward Attack of the Clones. She was dressed way down, with no makeup, her hair just casually tied up, and wearing casual clothing. But every male head turned to admire her entire procession. Maybe she should apply at the diner in Enough, and then she would certainly be left alone.
Early on in the film, Slim is humiliated by a deceitful cad (Noah Wyle???) who flirts with her and begins to win her over, but it is soon revealed that he made a bet with a friend for $200 that he could "get in her pants" by the following day. This reveal is provided by Mitch (Billy Campbell), who exposes the plot, and kicks the dirty fella out of the diner. Lopez is smitten with this handsome knight in shining armor, and they eventually get married, have a daughter and everything is delightful... until Slim discovers her husband has been cheating.
Here the film takes a turn, as Mitch is confronted with the affair. Mitch suddenly morphs into every woman's nightmare, and delivers Slim a solid punch to the face. As she lies cowering on the floor, he informs her that he is "a man," and therefore can do "whatever he wants," and she is just "a woman" and has to accept it, because he is "much stronger than her" and she "could never win." The scene is so silly and over the top, it is painfully obvious that it is just groundwork being laid to justify later developments.
That is where the "movie dumb" concept comes into play. She never goes to the police, and therefore lays no foundation for abuse charges later on. She takes her daughter one night, in a violent escape, and remains on the run for the duration of the film. But her "movie dumb" antics throughout the film, slowly painting herself into the proverbial corner, ultimately lead to one inescapable solution: He must die. This was painfully obvious to me about 20 minutes into the film, but feature length movies can't really be that short, so we must sit through an hour or so of mostly unnecessary filler to arrive at this obvious conclusion.
The movie is not a complete disaster, however. I was never painfully bored or angry, just ambivalent and tolerant. Jennifer Lopez is a decent actress, and brings a certain charm to the role of Slim. She really should aim a little higher with her movie roles, because there could be a real career there. The scenes between Lopez and her young daughter are sometimes very effective, with the daughter actually serving nicely as comedic relief occasionally. As the mother and daughter are on the run, they must constantly change their names to throw off suspicion. At some point, there are too many identities floating around in the little girl's head, and as a friendly waitress at a roadside diner asks the tot what her name is, she looks up and says, matter of factly, "I don't know." Juliette Lewis has the thankless second banana role, and Fred Ward inexplicably shows up late in the film as Slim's estranged father. Why did he bother? He doesn't have anything to do except manipulate plot points that the writer (Nicholas Kazan) must not have wanted to deal with.
However, Billy Campbell is so unbelievably over the top as the abusive Mitch that I wouldn't have been surprised if he suddenly sprouted horns and chased Slim around the room with a pitchfork. Campbell is obviously having fun doing a 360-degree turn from his role on TV's Once and Again, but it is just a silly performance, and detracts from the overall effect. His "menace" is so forcibly crammed down your throat throughout the film (to justify the ending) that it does nothing more than leave the bad, acidic taste in your mouth that results from eating too much at once and dry heaving.
There is also the lame "surprise" twist towards the end, but if there is really anyone that didn't see it coming, then you really need to see more movies. There is a general rule in Hollywood. Big name stars who appear early and exit early, are almost guaranteed to show up again. This is not a twist at all, but gives the stars the ability to sell this aspect on talk shows, because twist endings have become huge selling points, since the successes of The Sixth Sense, The Others, and the like. But come on! It is a cheap, stupid gimmick. But come to think of it, many audience members seemed genuinely surprised when it happened. Oh well, just as sheep need their grass, American audiences need their underachieving gimmicks.
But, as always, it is only one man's opinion.
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