Morris
Chestnut has been a leading man for many years in such Black 90s classics as Boyz N The Hood, The Best Man and The Inkwell.
For the last decade, he’s played a role in several ensemble casts in movies
such as The Brothers, Two Can Play That
Game, Breakin’ all the Rules
and last year’s break out holiday flick, A Perfect Holiday. This weekend Chestnutsteps up his game by not only starring as the lead character but also acting as
producer of the marriage-in-turmoil movie, Not
Easily Broken
.
Chestnut
plays Dave Johnson, a one-time aspiring ballplayer who blew out his knee and
now runs a small home-improvement business. Johnson is a working husband and an
all-around good guy who’s married to an ambitious and overbearing wife Clarice,
played by Taraji Henson of Hustle and
Flow and Baby Boy fame.
Taken
from the popular novel of the same name, written by TD Jakes, Broken is the story of a couple who go
through hell and high water to keep their bond tight. But there are
distractions, namely Clarice’s near fatal auto accident that leaves her unable
to do the things she’s use to doing, and becoming completely dependent on her
insecure and terribly opinionated mother, Mary “Mama” Clark, played by Jenifer
Lewis. Another huge distraction is Dave’s platonic relationship with another
woman, single mom Julie Sawyer, whom he befriends after meeting at her son’s,
swim competition.
Julie
is hired as a rehabilitation therapist for Clarice following the accident and
develops a close bond with the Johnson family. She also happens to be White,
which adds another dynamic to the story’s conflict. Not Easily Broken is a simple film with three powerhouse actors; at
times, the simplicity becomes boring. Taraji Hensons’ character as the
bring-home-the-bacon wife and her mother, who distrusts all men after loving a
no-good husband, make for recognizable retread characters that we’ve seen time
and again in these movies.
Because
we know that Not Easily Broken is
written by the Bishop TD Jakes, we assume that there’s a happy ending, and true
to form, it has a perfect bow attached. Dave learns his lesson just before his
love scene with Julie and Clarice realizes that she’d rather have her man next
to her than her mom. Unfortunately, this film doesn’t’ do much for its audience
in the lesson-learning department.
We’ve
seen this movie and these characters before, so don’t expect anything new. Niecy
Nash, from the Style Network’s top rated show, “Clean House” and Comedy
Central’s hilarious “Reno 911” adds a bit of flavor to the cast, as a friend and
co-worker of Clarice and the esteemed Albert Hall, from Apocalypse Now plays a bishop who keeps reminding the struggling
couple of their marriage vows, the “cord with three strands”
religious metaphor that will make it all better. In a nutshell, this movie
isn’t horrible, just typical and unauthentic. If you want to go on a date movie then fine, but if you’re looking for more, then this movie is not easily impressive.
