Enough should have been the movie for all those people sick of helpless-woman-on-the-run stories. Its advertisements make no secret of the plot development of Jennifer Lopez's character literally fighting back against her abusive husband. "Finally," the audience says, "here's a movie where the victim doesn't just scream and act scared! She will fight back and give the bastard what he deserves!"

Ah, but not so fast. In order to get to that juicy payoff, the audience must sit through the actual movie. Unfortunately, it offers a set-up that is best described as cheap, cheap, and cheap. No realistic depiction of spousal abuse here, just one extreme circumstance after another, all hammered home with cartoon characterizations, loud musical cues, and title cards. The film is all sensationalism, no subtlety, and everything is written as a convenience for a plot which justifies the eventual showdown.

It starts with the perfect fantasy life for the wife, Slim (Lopez). Her husband Mitch (Billy Campbell) is heroic, assertive, and freaking rich. They live in a big perfect house and raise their perfect daughter for about five years. Then one day, on just this one day, she discovers he's cheating on her. She confronts him, and suddenly the perfect husband slaps her. Hard. Twice. He is no longer the perfect husband; now he is The Most Evil Husband On Earth. Soon after striking her, he justifies his infidelity, tells her that her place is as his doormat, and threatens her if she ever tries to do anything about it.

What else can she do but run from him? He doesn't even offer a weasly attempt at working things out -- after all, he's The Most Evil Husband On Earth now -- so Slim's only choice is to run. Well, it won't be easy. This Evil Husband guy is resourceful. He knows where she has gone during the day. He threatens her and her friends with a gun. When she does get away, with daughter in tow, to a hotel, he shows up pounding on the door. When she flees to Seattle, he even has mercenary thugs there to search for her. So run Slim does, but not after trying to find out what the police can do for her. The officer she talks to gives her his honest take, but he might as well have said, "There's nothing we can do, so you might as well hide in fear." Because, you see, this movie must make sure that the heroine has absolutely no recourse while she is pursued by Evil Husband. She can't turn to the police nor her friends in other states, and her enemy can always somehow find out where she is.

Her situation gets so bad that even a lawyer tells her that, realistically, The Most Evil Husband On Earth won't stop looking for her until he kills her. That's when she finally becomes The Woman Who Had No Choice But To Fight. And if you thought Evil Husband was resourceful, wait until you see the lengths Slim goes to in order to prepare herself to fight him. She must've learned a thing or two from him, because she covers all her bases before she finally confronts him, ready to whoop his hide.

Enough is clearly trying to say something significant about victims of spousal abuse and the dilemmas they face, but it does so in such an over-the-top manner that it undercuts its own seriousness. For instance, the scenario of "the husband whom you thought you knew until one day he unleashed his true temper" is worthy of examination, but the audience can't ponder it after it has witnessed the most unbelievably brutal change of husbandly disposition in the world. And questions like, "where can you go when the police can do nothing to help you?" lose their basis in reality when the story adds doses of silliness by including mean-thugs-in-shades and an action-film car chase.

One could argue that the film is trying to be campy, but that's hard to believe given Jennifer Lopez's sincere performance. She acts with a balance of indignation and confidence, which would have been perfect if the movie was trying to be believable along with her. As it is, Lopez doesn't go overboard enough to turn the proceedings into intentional camp. In some strange way, that's too bad, because the movie is only redeemable when it isn't being taken as seriously as she seems to be taking it.

For what it's worth, the final showdown is vicarious fun. Nothing compares to primal thrill of watching The Most Evil Husband On Earth get the living tar kicked out of him by The Woman Who Had No Choice But To Fight. Too bad most of the movie spent its time having to prove to us that he really truly is The Most Evil Husband and that she really truly is The Woman Who Had No Choice. Revenge fantasies can often be guilty pleasures, but Enough works too hard to ensure that the audience won't even feel a twitch of guilt.

©Jeffrey Chen, May 22, 2002

(Released by Columbia Pictures and rated "PG-13" for intense scenes of domestic violence, some sensuality and language.)