Enough Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)May 23rd, 2002
ENOUGH
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2002 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
ENOUGH is a completely satisfying, even if not exactly original, thriller starring a terrific Jennifer Lopez as an abused wife whose pain is palpable. Nicholas Kazan's script keeps most of the story's focus on the running and hiding, as Slim (Lopez) takes her daughter Gracie (Tessa Allen) away, far away, from Mitch (Billy Campbell), Slim's extremely dangerous husband. The movie's PG-13 rating works to its advantage by precluding the gory excesses possible in an R-rated picture. This is an intense and frightening film, but one that avoids going over the top, with the emphasis more on the planning and execution than on the action itself.
The secret of the movie's success? Its amazingly versatile and accomplished director, Michael Apted, who has done everything from a Bond picture (THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH) to a war-time romantic thriller (ENIGMA) to the best documentary series ever made, the 7/14/21/28/35/42 UP collection. This time Apted is able to make you care and make you jump. Working with a great cast, he fashions characters that are genuine and frightening. Even when he telegraphs his punches way in advance, he still has you jumping on queue. He has you in his power, but he uses that power to weave his story and not merely to manipulate his audience.
When the story starts, Slim and her buddy Ginny (Juliette Lewis) are waitresses in a diner. One day, in walks Mitch, and, in no time at all, Mitch and Slim are hitched. Really hitched. When she catches him cheating, he doesn't deny it but threatens her and then slugs her -- hard. "I make the money here, so I set the rules," he explains, laying down the law. These rules include all of the infidelity he wants and no divorce. She's his forever. The "till death do us part" portion of the wedding vows is loudly shouted in the script's subtext. Mitch puts it best when he threatens her with, "Do you have any idea how bad things can get?" She does, so, after a few false starts, she gets herself a false identity and skips town with her daughter by her side.
Some will have quibbles about the movie's messages. One part, however, is painfully true. When she first goes to the police station, she answers her own questions about what the police can do to protect a wife from an insanely violent husband. A restraining order, she points out to the desk sergeant, is just a piece of paper. If her husband comes after her, what can she do? "Throw it at him?"
Don't be surprised if your audience is like ours. They were ready to kill Mitch. If you're looking for an intelligent movie in which you can release your pent up anger, ENOUGH is just the ticket you need.
ENOUGH runs 1:55. It is rated PG-13 for "intense scenes of domestic violence, some sensuality and language" and would be acceptable for kids around 12 and up.
My son Jeffrey, age 13, gave it ***. He liked it all, especially Lopez's acting and the realness of the fighting.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, May 24, 2002. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC and the Century theaters.
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Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
