If I had to write a one-sentence review of Enough, it would be: If you liked the trailer, you'll like the movie. Why? Because it delivers on the trailer's promise. Few things are more annoying than a movie that bares little resemblance to its trailer. I don't mind seeing mindless movies, as long as their trailers don't portray them as intelligent (or worse, as movies with a message; your morality pill).
Enough tells a powerful, important story. That's clear from the trailer and the movie. It covers a lot of time, something that's difficult to do in film. There's a tendency to fill in all the blanks. Many movies assume that audiences won't be able to make the leap from scene to scene if the lapse is too great. In practice, I've found that audiences are very forgiving of this sort of thing; as long as the jump doesn't hurt the flow of the story, you're golden. This is where Enough shines. No effort is made to indicate the number of years that pass or what the characters did in the interim. The story drives Enough, and for that, the director, Michael Apted, should be commended.
Many movies overdose on details for the same reason that they fill in the lapses. Again, I've found that audiences overlook unimportant details. There are a few scenes with Slim (Jennifer Lopez) and her trainer that scream foreshadowing, but I think that's important; the audience has to believe that these moves have been drilled into Slim, so that she can pull them off despite her terror. However, the details of her preparation for the day that her husband, Mitch (Bill Campbell), might show up are left out. We get to see the results of her hard (and smart) work in a great action sequence, and I doubt anyone in the theatre was thinking, "Where did she get that car?"
Those moments can kill a movie. Any time the audience fails to suspend their disbelief or questions a turn in the story... Any time they look at their watches, you know the director's made a mistake. Few big budget movies get the flow and the pace right. In The Bedroom was a great example of the power that comes with the right amount of build up. I think Enough found that balance too. Slim is a woman on the edge. If we don't believe that, don't feel her terror, and her lack of options, she'll lose us in the final scenes. Apted did a great job of including enough downtime, enough "How she got into this mess," without boring us.
I wasn't interested in seeing this movie. I saw the trailer and thought, "This story isn't for me." I went because it was my wife's movie night. However, I always enjoy seeing a movie that delivers on the promise made in its trailer. I also enjoy any good acting performance, and Enough surprised me in this respect. Robbie (Noah Wyle) was a believeable character, as were Slim and Mitch. I think the glimpses of Mitch's thought process really fleshed out his character, and Bill Campbell made it look easy. As I said, if you liked the trailer, you'll like the movie.
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