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"A THIN LINE BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE"
(1996) (Martin Lawrence, Lynn Whitfield) (R)

Alcohol/
Drugs
Blood/Gore Disrespectful/
Bad Attitude
Frightening/
Tense Scenes
Guns/
Weapons
Moderate Mild Heavy Mild Moderate
Imitative
Behavior
Jump
Scenes
Music
(Scary/Tense)
Music
(Inappropriate)
Profanity
Moderate None Mild *Heavy Extreme
Sex/
Nudity
Smoking Tense Family
Scenes
Topics To
Talk About
Violence
Heavy *Minor None Mild Moderate


QUICK TAKE:
A habitual womanizer gets his comeuppance when a scorned woman comes back for revenge after he’s dumped her.
PLOT:
Darnell Wright (MARTIN LAWRENCE) is a budding partner/employee of "Chocolate City," a funky nightclub. When he’s not working there with his buddy, Tee (BOBBY BROWN), Darnell’s out chasing woman and trying to "score" with them. When he sees Brandi Web (LYNN WHITFIELD), a wealthy real estate agent, he sees her as his next target. She plays hard to get for a while, but eventually he wears down her resistance and they sleep together. She thinks they’re in love, but he’s now interested in an old childhood friend, Mia (REGINA KING), who’s returned from a stint in the Air Force. As the popular saying goes, "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," Brandi makes it her mission to ruin Darnell’s life after he won’t have her back.
WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
If they’re fans of Lawrence (TV’s "Martin") they might.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R
For strong language, a sex scene and some violence.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
  • MARTIN LAWRENCE plays a character who's a womanizer, plain and simple. He does, however, eventually come around and changes his way with women after Mia returns and he becomes monogamous with her.
  • LYNN WHITFIELD plays a conceited woman who, once scorned, does all sorts of bad things to Darnell, including damaging his property and trying to kill him.
  • CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

    HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE


    OUR TAKE: 3 out of 10
    In what we suppose was intended to be a hilarious take on the "Fatal Attraction" plot, this movie is neither very funny nor scary. Lawrence does have a certain screen charisma (much like Eddie Murphy had when he was younger) and it’s a shame that he hasn’t had a vehicle yet to exploit his charming persona. This one certainly doesn’t do it, but instead seemingly tries to win the record for number of profanities in a movie (it doesn’t, but scores very high). The other performances are okay, but there's nothing unique or special in them or the plot. We give it just a 3 out of 10.
    OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
    Several categories top the charts for parents to take notice of. Profanity is extreme with more than one hundred "f" words being used. There is a great deal of sexual talk and one sexual encounter is seen with upper female nudity, sexual movement and sexual sounds being observed. The main character is a habitual womanizer and tells a woman that he loves her just so that he can sleep with her. She returns the favor by trying to kill him by electrocution and later with a gun. If your kids want to see this one, we highly suggest you read through all the category listings before allowing them to do so.

    ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
  • People are seen drinking beer and cocktails in the nightclub several times.
  • Mia and her date drink champagne.
  • A drunk man starts a fight in the nightclub.
  • Darnell, Tee and some other guys drink shots after the nightclub has closed and Tee appears a little drunk.
  • Darnell and Brandi have wine at her house.
  • Brandi drinks champagne by herself at home twice.
  • BLOOD/GORE
  • Darnell bleeds from a bullet wound to his arm and the bath water around him turns bloody red.
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
  • Men refer to women as "honey’s," "bitches," "whores," and "baby."
  • Brandi won’t shake Mia’s hand as she thinks she’s better than her.
  • Darnell tells Brandi that he loves her, only so that he can have sex with her. She later retaliates by making his life a living hell. See "Violence" for many of her actions.
  • Brandi hits herself in the jaw several times and then slams a door shut on her arm several times to make it look like Darnell’s beaten her up.
  • FRIGHTENING SCENES
  • Some viewers may find the sequence at the end of the movie where Brandi tries to kill Darnell and the others as tense and suspenseful.
  • GUNS/WEAPONS
  • Knife: Brandi stabs a kitchen knife into a cake because she’s mad that Darnell has stood her up.
  • Handgun: Used by Brandi to threaten and then shoot Darnell in the closing scenes of the movie. See "Violence" for details.
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
  • There is some pelvic thrusting seen by dancers in the nightclub.
  • Brandi hits herself in the jaw several times and then slams a door shut on her arm several times to make it look like Darnell’s beaten her up.
  • Brandi drops a radio into the bathtub where Darnell’s sitting to try to electrocute him.
  • Phrases: "Bitch," "Balls," "Nuts," "Punk," "Whores," "Piss," and "Shut up."
  • JUMP SCENES
  • None.
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
  • There is a mild amount of suspenseful music in the movie, particularly in the last scenes.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
  • Several cuss words are heard in several songs (including at least three uses of the "f" word). There are also references to "making love" and gangsters in other songs.
  • There are many rap songs on the soundtrack that may contain more material that couldn’t be discerned due to dialogue on top of them or due to their low audio level. We caution parents that more objectionable material may be present than listed above.
  • PROFANITY
  • At least 114 "f" words (47 used with the prefix "mother" and 8 used sexually), 58 "s" words, 22 "ass" words, 16 damns, 10 slang terms for male genitals (the "d" word), 4 slang terms for female genitals (the "p" word), 3 hells, 1 slang term for breasts (the "t" word), and 2 uses of "Oh God," and 1 use each of "Oh my God" and "Lord have mercy" as exclamations.
  • SEX/NUDITY
  • There is a great deal of discussing sex, but most of it is short in duration and for bragging rights among the men.
  • Darnell asks one of the many women in his life when he became the "boyfriend." She says "When I opened my legs for you."
  • Darnell kisses a woman’s leg and massages her foot and she moans in ecstasy.
  • When another man asks Darnell if had sex ("Did you "f" her?") with a particular woman, he responds that he didn’t, but she did perform oral sex on him ("She sucked by d*ck") and then goes through the motions of having an orgasm.
  • Darnell and Brandi have sex. He’s on top of her and sexual movement is seen as are her breasts, and moaning sounds are heard. She then climbs on top of him and more of the same is seen and heard.
  • Darnell and Mia are seen lying on her bed, cuddling. It’s not certain if they had sex or not, but he did spend the night there.
  • SMOKING
  • We didn’t note any, but people may have been smoking in the background of several of the nightclub scenes.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES
  • None.
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
  • As the title says, there’s a thin line between love and hate -- in other words, relationships between men and women.
  • VIOLENCE
  • Darnell falls from a horse while riding with Brandi.
  • A drunk man bashes a beer bottle on top of another man’s head, knocking him out. The drunk man then pushes several people around until Darnell finally punches him in the face. The two try to fight but are separated by others.
  • While having sex with Darnell, Brandi tells him that her former husband was cruel to her, so she killed him (later we hear it was by electrocution).
  • Brandi stabs a kitchen knife into a birthday cake because she’s mad that Darnell has stood her up. She then leaves the cake (with the knife) on Mia’s doorstep as a threat.
  • One of Darnell’s former loves slaps him on the face.
  • Darnell pushes Brandi up against his kitchen wall after she's let herself into his house and then won’t leave.
  • Brandi tries to run over Darnell with her car.
  • Brandi hits herself in the jaw several times and then slams a door shut on her arm several times to make it look like Darnell’s beaten her up.
  • Darnell runs out of his mother’s house and finds that Brandi has thrown a brick through his truck’s windshield. He then rushes up to her and wants to fight, as does his mother who comes out of the house, but Darnell holds her back.
  • Darnell comes out of a police station to find that Brandi has vandalized his truck and stolen his tires.
  • Brandi threatens Darnell to break off his romance with Mia "or else."
  • The guys then find that Brandi has done damage (fire and water) to the nightclub.
  • Brandi smashes a vase over Darnell’s head at her house and then ties him up. She then holds a gun to his head and threatens to kill him. After smashing a birthday cake into his face, he won’t go upstairs as she’s ordered, so she knees him in the groin.
  • Upstairs, she orders him into the bathtub and then shoots him in the arm. He falls into the tub and, moments later, gets out just in time as she drops a radio into the water to electrocute him. As he runs away, she shoots at him several times, but misses.
  • Mia and Tee arrive to save Darnell, but Brandi hits Tee over the head with her gun, knocking him silly. She then holds the gun on Mia and goes upstairs where she and Mia struggle over the gun. Darnell joins in and the three then fall through a second story window and into the swimming pool below.



  • Reviewed November 2, 1996

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