CINEMA: EXHALING SUDS

IN A TIRED TALE, THE AMAZING ANGELA BASSETT SHINES

SHE HAS THE SCARIEST EYES IN movies. They can radiate pain or anger with the immediacy of a lightning flash and the intensity of a witch's curse. Angela Bassett should be cast as Medusa or Medea, but because she is a movie star, she plays righteous cops and sanctified wives. She ought to be in terrific films; instead she appears in mediocre ones, where she stands out like Callas singing Feelings and shines like her own amazing, reproachful eyes.

Bassett does all the heavy emotional lifting in Waiting to Exhale, based on Terry McMillan's best seller. It's the old story--as old...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!