Enough on DVD

Unfortunately for the filmmakers, 116 minutes of this latest Jennifer Lopez movie is way more than enough.

Slim (Lopez) is a diner waitress on the lookout for Mr. Right. She’s had her fair share of bad relationships, but her friend Ginny (Juliette Lewis) convinces her there are still decent guys out there. And after a customer at her work (Billy Campbell) foils another man’s attempt to get into Slim’s pants (Ed. note: he was actually far too large for them to fit), Slim actually starts to believe her.

Slim and Mitch have the perfect marriage. They’re happy together, making plenty of money, and they have a beautiful daughter. But a few years later, when Slim discovers Mitch is having an affair, things go horribly wrong. She confronts him, and he ends up showing his dark side and hitting her. He says he’s the man who brings in the dough, so he can do whatever he wants. And if Slim has a problem with that…

So our victim/heroine flees town with her daughter and goes on the run from her suddenly abusive husband. But Mitch wants her back, and will do whatever it takes to get her. Finally, when Slim has had “Enough,” she hooks up with a man who teaches her self-defense, home security, and a bunch of other tricks you wouldn’t think a person can possibly learn in a mere 30 days.

The movie tries really hard, but just can’t do it. It’s a sad excuse for a thriller, offering no suspense or even a bit of nail-biting. The plot is entirely predictable, and full of holes the size of Indonesia. Lopez and Campbell are both pretty good, but there isn’t an actor on the planet that could save Enough. Director Michael Apted (The World is Not Enough) does his best with what he has to work with, but this movie is just too bad in too many ways.

If Slim had found a mature and decent way to handle the situation, it might not have been so hard to swallow. As it stands, she lowers herself to her husband’s level and we’re left wondering exactly what kind of message this movie is trying to send. In defense, however, I was expecting it to be a full-fledged “girl power” movie where every man on the planet is a piece of filthy slime. But there are actually some decent male characters in the film.

However, this is not nearly enough to save this awful movie.

You might say Enough is a little too much.

Due to its lackluster box office performance (it barely earned back its $38 million budget), Columbia Tristar has opted to give it a very lackluster DVD (though probably still better than it deserves).

The disc includes both anamorphic widescreen. 16x9 TV compatible, and Pan&Scan versions of the film, but the picture is pretty poor. Lately we’ve been spoiled with transfers like Star Wars: Attack of the Clones or Lord of the Rings, and when you look at Enough, it looks terrible. It’s very, very soft, and there are spots of grain present throughout the entire picture. Colors are bland and the whites almost drown out the characters.

The audio is also fairly poor. This movie would not call for much surround use (except perhaps for the score), so it’s understandably directed to the front (even the score). But the quality of that coming from the front speakers does not sound up to snuff.

The only extras on the disc are a Jennifer Lopez music video and the theatrical trailer.

Enough, from Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment
116 minutes, anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) 16X9 enhanced, 5.1 Dolby Digital
Starring Jennifer Lopez, Billy Campbell, Juliette Lewis, Dan Futterman and Noah Wyle
Produced by Irwin Winkler, Rob Cowan
Written by Nicholas Kazan
Directed by Michael Apted

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