I have seen several of the movies Jennifer Lopez has been in and I have ended up enjoying most of them. She has made a variety of different movies ranging from light-hearted comedies to more serious roles. The last movie of hers that I saw was Enough, a drama in which she played a wife whose perfect marriage fell apart. I didn’t get to see Enough when it was in the theater, but I did rent the DVD.

Slim and her friend Ginny worked as waitresses in the same restaurant. One day Slim met the man she would marry when he stepped in to expose another man who had made a bet concerning Slim.

Mitch and Slim had a big wedding. Mitch had a lot of money and was use to getting what he wanted. He and Slim moved into a huge house that Slim liked after he basically forced the owners to sell the house to him. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. They had a daughter named Gracie, and they had a happy life. Slim did notice a few small things once in a while that seemed to concern her.

One night, after they had been married for several years, Slim discovered that Mitch was having an affair. It was a bit later on another night, when she really confronted him about it when she smelled another woman’s perfume on him. Mitch claimed that he had needs. Slim said she wasn’t going to put up with that and he hit her. He said that since he made the money he made the rules. He had no intention of ending the affair. He even went so far as to say that it was better that it was out in the open because he could tell her he was going to his girlfriend’s for a few hours instead of making up a lie about working late.

Slim wasn’t sure what to do. She went to see Mitch’s mother who seemed upset over what had happened, but she did ask Slim what she did to make Mitch hit her. Slim didn’t want to go to the police because he was Gracie’s father. She did go to the police station and asked some questions about her situation. She wasn’t happy with the answers she got. Slim finally decided to take Gracie and get out with the help of Ginny and two other friends, though they almost didn’t get away.

Mitch was furious that Slim left and started doing things to get her back. He made it clear that he would do everything he could to prove that she was an unfit mother. He was determined to get her back. He tired to force her to come back by freezing her bank account and cancelling her credit cards. He hired people to look for her and follow her friends. Slim was just as determined to stay gone. She stayed in contact with Ginny and even got help from Joe, an ex-boyfriend. She eventually did some intensive training in some kind of fighting.

CAST

Jennifer Lopez - Slim
Billy Campbell - Mitch
Tessa Allen - Gracie
Juliette Lewis - Ginny
Dan Futterman - Joe
Noah Wyle - Robbie
Fred Ward - Jupiter
Janet Carroll - Mrs. Hiller

Enough was released in 2002. It is now available to rent and own on DVD or VHS. I rented the DVD version. The movie was 115 minutes long. Enough was rated PG-13 and some scenes contained intense domestic violence, sensuality, and language. Enough could be very upsetting to anyone who has been in a similar situation or knows someone who has been in Slim’s position. No children should see this movie.

Enough was a serious movie. It wasn’t light hearted in any way. I thought it was a psychological thriller, though I have seen other thrillers that have been better. The movie examined a very serious subject, domestic abuse, and how one woman decided to handle the situation. I did like the movie and think it is worth watching. However, that doesn’t mean that I think a woman in a situation like Slim’s should do what she did. Enough probably isn’t a good movie choice for women who have been in abusive relationships, women who are currently in one, or for anyone who knows someone who is trapped in a relationship like that. This is not a movie for everyone.

There was violence throughout Enough. Mitch hit Slim more than once. Mitch hired men to hunt her down. Those men also went to her friends and threatened them. One of the thugs Mitch hired even pulled a knife on Joe. Mitch tracked Slim down once and started to beat her up again. That time Gracie saw what was going on and tried to stop him. Mitch actually knocked Gracie down. Slim and Gracie managed to get away, but Gracie was very disturbed by what she had seen. Slim learned how to fight and she and Mitch had a final confrontation that was rather violent. It may be too violent for some people.

Enough started off a little slow as it showed how Slim and Mitch met. After Mitch stepped in to expose Robbie, the man who was hitting on Slim, she was grateful to him. The movie then jumped forward and showed them at their wedding reception. None of their courtship was shown. The movie continued to jump forward, showing little glimpses of Mitch and Slim’s life together, but there wasn’t any depth to those short scenes. They just showed that Mitch, Slim, and later their daughter had a happy life. During those scenes, there were a few small things that showed that Mitch was hiding something, but Slim never did anything about them. Enough continued to jump forward and just show glimpses of their marriage up until Slim discovered that Mitch was having an affair. After that there was a lot more going on. Slim ended up running with Gracie and Mitch was trying to find her. There was some action provided by a car chase later in the movie. There were several suspenseful moments throughout the movie. Even though the movie did start off slower, I didn’t find any part of it boring.

In Enough, Slim had to make some very difficult decisions. Should she go to the police? Should she stay with Mitch and put up with him having affairs? Should she leave him? Slim didn’t make her decisions lightly. She thought about what to do, and even stopped at the police station to ask some questions about what a woman in her position could do. The police couldn’t guarantee that Mitch wouldn’t go after her once he made bail. There was even the possibility that she wouldn’t be able to keep Mitch away from Gracie. Unfortunately there isn’t too much that the police can do in a situation like that. Slim did what she felt she had to do to protect herself and her daughter. I’m not saying that Slim made right or wrong decisions. At one point, Slim was told that she had done several things wrong. She did a few things that didn’t seem to smart to me, like trying to use credit cards which would leave an easy to follow trail of where she had been. She also didn’t have any money stashed away before she made her move to run. I’ve never been in a situation like Slim was, and I have no idea what I would do if I ever did find myself in that position. Enough did show that a woman in an abusive marriage has options and can fight back in different ways, either like Slim did, or by fighting back in court.

There were a few sexual situations in Enough, but there weren’t any actual sex scenes. There was some skin shown, but not actual nudity. The movie didn’t show Mitch and Slim falling in love, so there really wasn’t any romance provided by their relationship. The images of their marriage that was shown did depict a happy marriage, but there weren’t any loving or intimate moments between Slim and Mitch shown. Later in the movie, Slim went to Joe for some help once and he did show up again later in the movie. There did seem to be some feelings between Slim and Joe, but they never acted on them. People who are looking for a romantic movie should look elsewhere.

When I first saw the previews for Enough, I did think it seemed to be similar to another movie dealing with a woman in an abusive marriage, Sleeping with the Enemy. After seeing the movie, I do think there were some similarities, but there were also differences between the two movies.

In Enough, the viewers did get to see how Slim and Mitch met, as well as snippets from their marriage. Then Slim discovered Mitch was having an affair and he turned abusive when she confronted him. Slim took her daughter and ran. Mitch was looking for her.

In Sleeping with the Enemy, the movie started a few years into Laura and Martin’s marriage. The viewers never got to see how they met. Soon after the movie started, Laura acted on her plan to fake her own death. She traveled to a new town, changed her name, and started her life over. Martin grieved over his wife’s death until he discovered a few things that made him wonder. Then he started to trying to find out if she was still alive.

In both movies, the wives were in abusive relationships. In Sleeping with the Enemy, Martin started to abuse Laura right after they were married. He wasn’t having an affair. Laura planned for a long time on how she would escape her husband. She didn’t have a child. In Enough, Mitch didn’t become abusive until years later, after Slim discovered he was having an affair. Slim had a daughter to think of too. She did some thinking and made plans to leave Mitch. He knew she was still alive and that she had Gracie, so he started trying to get her back immediately. Slim chose to learn how to fight and went through extensive training to confront her husband. Laura didn’t do anything like that. I liked both movies. I thought that there were enough differences between them so that it didn’t seem like I was watching the same movie again when I first saw Enough.

I thought that the acting in Enough was good. Billy Campbell was very good as Mitch. I thought he was believable as an abusive husband. I’ve seen Campbell in different roles over the years, but I’ve never seen him play anyone like Mitch before. He is a very versatile actor and can play many different types of characters. I thought that Jennifer Lopez was also good in Enough as Slim. She has been in several types of movies, like Jack, Selena, Angel Eyes and The Wedding Planner. Slim was one of her more serious roles. Noah Wyle showed up briefly as Robbie, the man who hit on Slim at the beginning of the movie. Robbie wasn’t a nice character. It was very strange to see him in this type of role, but he was good. Tessa Allen, the little girl who played Gracie, was very cute. She did fine in her role. She did really look scared during certain scenes. There were some other actors who only showed up a few times that were also good in their roles.

CHARACTERS

Slim - She was working as a waitress when she met the man she would marry. She was kept to herself and was a loner until she met Mitch. She loved her daughter and was willing to do extreme things to protect her. Slim was determined to protect her daughter and to stay away from Mitch. She was use to taking care of herself.

Mitch - Rich man that stepped in to expose a man who was hitting on Slim. He seemed to be a kind, loving man, but that changed. He was abusive and controlling. He kept secrets.

Gracie - Slim and Mitch’s little girl. She loved both her parents and didn’t like that she and her mother left her father. She was upset when she saw Mitch hit Slim.

Ginny - Slim’s best friend. Ginny helped Slim to get away from Mitch. She liked Mitch at first, but that changed after the first time Mitch hit Slim.

Joe - An ex-boyfriend of Slim’s. He still had feelings for her. He helped Slim when she ran from Mitch.

Enough was a good movie that I really liked. It was about an unpleasant subject, but it was worth watching.

DVD

The version of Enough that I rented was on DVD. It contained both the wide screen and full screen versions of the movie. I chose to watch the wide screen version. The DVD had good picture and sound quality. The DVD didn’t have many extras though. There were only three extras, the theatrical trailer for Enough, filmographies for all the actors, and the music video for the song Alive by Jennifer Lopez.

Related Reviews
The Wedding Planner


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age