Enough

Enoughlives up to its name only if you come into the cineplex expecting a Lifetime TV melodrama (complete with a cute kid) that becomes a revenge fantasy.

Slim (Jennifer Lopez, Angel Eyes) is supposed to be the all-American everywoman — and a lady in waiting. She waits tables with grace under short-order fire in a Hollywood-glossy greasy spoon gossiping and despairing over cute male customers with her gal pal, Ginny (Juliette Lewis, The Way of the Gun). But mostly she seems to be waiting for Mr. Right. His name turns out to be Mitch (Billy Campbell, the titular Rocketeer). He makes his Prince Charming entrance by defending her honor from a frat-boyish patron (Noah Wyle, TV’s “ER”). In no time, Mitch and Slim are married and, in no time later, baby makes three with Gracie (Tessa Allen).

Just when things couldn’t seem more perfect (a beautiful house, a Mercedes in the driveway and the aforementioned cute kid), Slim discovers that Mitch is more a brooding gothic antihero than the Prince Charming she signed up for — and that he can slap with the lightning-quick, dispassionate violence of a street-corner pimp. After much mental hand-wringing, coaching from her Oprah-ish support network and Mitch’s psycho abuse, she takes Gracie in hand and takes it on the lam — and her adventure of countrywide flight and inevitable revenge begins.

Of course, we’ve seen the story before in different guises; Double Jeopardy (1999) comes to mind. But despite the high-action chases and the climactic fight scene, this flick isn’t a true thriller — and it doesn’t have the class, the smarts or the cast of Jeopardy. This is soap-opera revenge for any woman who cheered Lorena Bobbit and identified with and mourned for Nicole Brown-Simpson.

Think of it as a popcorn-muncher date flick. If your boyfriend gets bored, there’s always J-Lo. And guys, mind your manners afterward or girlfriend might order up a frosty glass of whup-ass with dinner.

James Keith La Croix writes about film for Metro Times. Send comments to letters@metrotimes.com.