ENOUGH

By: Abbie Bernstein
Review Date: Friday, May 24, 2002

Although there have been a number of films on the subject of battered wives who turn the tables on their abusive husbands, probably the best-known pop culture treatment until now has been 1991's
SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY. Julia Roberts stars as the wife of a rich control freak (Patrick Bergin) who pounds the hell out of her. She resourcefully flees him, but he tracks her down, leading to a kill-or-be-killed situation.

While it's entirely possible there is no borrowing going on, either deliberate or unconscious, ENOUGH echoes SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY in a number of respects, while expanding on its themes in various crowd-pleasing ways.

Jennifer Lopez plays Slim who, when we meet her, is waiting tables at a beachside coffee shop. Mitch (Billy Campbell) is a handsome customer who comes to Slim's rescue when another man tries to run a scam on her. Mitch is good-looking, rich, self-assured, seemingly too good to be true. It's not until after they're married with a young daughter that Slim finds another side to Prince Charming he's sleeping around. When she confronts him, he punches her out. When she tries to leave, he tries to kill her. She does leave and things escalate.

So far, the main difference between prototype ENEMY and new film ENOUGH is that the latter provides a back-story we at least understand how and why Slim could hook up with this creep in the first place. Campbell, who has played quintessentially decent men in other projects, is a shrewd piece of casting he doesn't telegraph Mitch's darkness ahead of time, and he comes off as someone who is operating off a cohesive (albeit warped) internal logic rather than an arbitrary fiend.



Where ENOUGH really amps up the formula, though, is in the specifics of how Slim ultimately addresses her tormentor. Back in 1991, it clearly hadn't occurred to the filmmakers that the revved-up audience wouldn't just want to see the villain get his comeuppance, but that it could be made both credible and desirable for the heroine to retaliate in kind that is, with fists and feet rather than with something as impersonal as a gun.

Lopez makes Slim likable and sympathetic as well as persuading us that she's physically capable of taking on a larger opponent, although the actress seems just a touch too aware of her character's heroism. Then again, this may be how director Michael Apted has chosen to present Slim she's suffused with an air of righteousness that will probably satisfy some viewers while striking others as overkill.


Nicholas Kazan's screenplay has some very clever developments that coexist with moments where coincidence and/or sheer illogic take hold. Slim conveniently turns out to have a father, absent her entire life, who is both somewhat interested in her fate and incredibly wealthy; in a discussion with a lawyer, she gives her "real" name as "Slim" (is this what it says on her birth certificate?). We understand that ENOUGH is meant as a thriller, not as slice-of-life drama, but these touches are egregious even in context.

On the upside, the dialogue is generally intelligent and engaging, the characters are credible and Apted generates tension that reaches very effective peaks in all the right places.

Additionally, the film is extremely well cast, with Juliette Lewis sparkling as Slim's best friend and Noah Wyle confidently portraying a smiling, conscience-free scumbag. Fred Ward, Bill Cobbs and Bruce A. Young all register strongly in smaller roles.

As glossy revenge fantasies go, ENOUGH is a pretty decent one that earns its payoff. It does suggest that vigilantism is more effective than legal recourse, not precisely a socially responsible notion, but if Clint Eastwood and Sylvester Stallone get to play people who take the law into their own hands when provoked, it seems unfair to say that Lopez can't play a character who does the same.