Waiting to Exhale

REVIEW
Probably a first for a Hollywood film, Waiting to Exhale centers of the relationships of four African-American women. The occasionally appealing though sometimes static film focuses less on the women's friendship (they have few scenes together) and more on their individual relationships with men, which produces a varying degree of success. Houston is the catalyst of the story, moving to Phoenix to start life anew and reuniting with her longtime friends. Her romantic scenes have all the snap of a Taster's Choice commercial, though she fares better when relating to her female costars. Bassett, like her character's story, has an earthiness and tenderness missing from a lot of the other characters. Devine gives a charming performance as an upbeat hairdresser and mother with designs on her new neighbor (Hines).