Review of Enough

Introduction

It`s too good to be true. Waitress Slim (Jennifer Lopez) meets her Prince Charming in Mitch (Billy Campbell) as he jumps to her rescue from the advances of someone (Noah Wyle) trying to pick her up. Slim, taken by such chivalry marries Mitch and has a daughter. Seems rather quick, and you`re right. The first ten minutes of the film proceeds rapidly with the aid of onscreen captions filling us in on some five years of their relationship. Eventually we learn of Mitch`s philandering as Slim wonders curiously about his pager going off with a coded message.

This is the start of where we see her husband show his colours by smacking her around and it`s not the first time. But what is she supposed to do? She can`t fight back. It all escalates and she manages to flee with the help of friends, but Mitch isn`t going to just let her go as easily as that and pursues her relentlessly. Slim, continually on the run with daughter in tow, never has an easy time of it because a husband that can reach out almost anywhere doesn`t set out to make life easy. The only thing that will put an end to this is to terminate the marriage, period. With a violent husband like Mitch on the prowl, Slim will do whatever it takes to defend her family. Jennifer Lopez is a woman that`s had enough (sorry, couldn`t help that).

A film with domestic violence at its core is never going to be an easy film to make. Do you send out a positive message or do you add some `Hollywood` to dress it up into a thriller where popcorn rules and films suspend total disbelief? This is certainly a lot of the latter with very little of the message in there.

Video

Presented with a 2.35:1 anamorphic video transfer, Enough looks very good. Colours are well balanced and there`s good detail throughout. There are very minor compression artefacts with the odd fleck of dirt. Otherwise it looks fine.

Audio

Good use of sound with its Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack adding good effect to the film. There are key scenes where you can hear good use of the surround channel such as the final showdown between Slim and Mitch. Dialogue is clear from the centre.

Features

Not having been exposed to the film in any regard apart from marketing posters, I had no idea who the abusive husband would be in the film, so the opening animated menu did a good job of informing me before I`d seen the film. Not a good start.

• Director and Writer Commentary (subtitled) - With director Michael Apted (The World is Not Enough, Nell, Enigma) and writer Nick Kazan (Reversal of Fortune, Dream Lover), this commentary is interesting. They talk throughout and are quite engaging.

• Producers Commentary (subtitled) - With producers Rob Cowan and Irwin Winkler it sounds too self-congratulatory for my liking. They talk about all manner of things that producers talk about.

• Deleted Scenes (subtitled with optional subtitled commentary) - Amusement Park, Diner/INS raid, Strip Joint break-in. Deleted for a reason these seem rather redundant and slow the pace. Not interesting.

• Max on the set: Enough (subtitled)(12:13) - PR fluff, need I say more?

• Featurettes (subtitled):
-A Clear Message (9:02)
-Enough is Enough (11:04)
-Krav Maga: Contact Combat (7:59)

The first covers cast and crew and is more of the usual PR affair. The second is a featurette with clinical psychologists/authors/judges who speak about domestic violence. It`s interesting but they don`t comment on the film itself. The last is about a new street combat technique, Krav Maga, which is the combat used by Lopez in the film. All in all, these are quite forgettable.


• Music Video (4:26) - "Alive", by Jennifer Lopez.
• Filmographies - This covers primary cast and crew.

• Trailers (Dutch subtitles) - Anamorphically enhanced trailers for: Enough, Men in Black II, Spider-Man, Trapped and Maid in Manhattan.

The trailers are the only supplements that are anamorphically enhanced. Well, this is a rarity, a region 2 disc that has significantly more extras than its region 1 counterpart. Unfortunately no amount of extras is going to make this average film any better.

There are 22 subtitle options. Enough is packaged in a standard DVD keep case.

Conclusion

As thrillers go Enough isn`t even mildly entertaining. The only problem I seem to have with it is the unlikely resourcefulness of the central character of waitress Slim (Jennifer Lopez). One moment she`s the battered housewife with a succession of events that lead her to go on the run, the next we see her with some real female empowerment. Nothing wrong with taking control of your life, but it just seems a rather big leap here in the film.

When on the run she tracks down her missing father (Fred Ward), who happens to be loaded, and she asks him for money. He decides to help her financially and this is just what she needs since she has little cash. Coincidence? Call me cynical, but it seems more like script patching. She has non-descript cars kept away in case she needs them too. To see Slim picking a lock in the final scenes with seeming ease is the final straw. These are just a few elements of the film that had me muttering under my breath.

The script is predictable, the dialogue remains bland and you know how it will all end. But hang on; this is a Hollywood thriller, a film where disbelief is supposed to be suspended. It stretches that disbelief a little too far, that`s all I`m saying. The film isn`t a message film as such; it`s made to entertain. But how can you effectively entertain with a story about an abusive relationship? Even with a Hollywood ending it just feels cheapened. I don`t think this is an easy subject to present in a film and do justice to, so this remains a missed opportunity to make something more sympathetic.

Enough is a disappointing film and there`s no two ways about it. If you`re a Lopez fan and feel that you must see it, then rent it, but don`t blame me. I don`t think it`s worth bothering with.