Review: 'Enough' is too much of a bad thing

Despite Lopez's charisma, movie's a dud

(CNN) -- The new film "Enough" lives up to its title within minutes of the opening credits. At best, this should have been a bad made-for-TV movie. You'll find yourself begging for a commercial break time and again.

Jennifer Lopez is a beautiful, multi-talented woman. And, yes, she can act. But this inane drivel is mind-numbingly bad. Watching this film is like driving across a prairie in second gear -- slow and boring.

This paint-by-numbers revenge flick begins with a hardworking diner waitress nicknamed Slim (Lopez) getting hit on by a low-life jerk played by Noah Wyle. Then, out of the blue, comes Mitch (Billy Campbell), who saves her -- then marries her. We also meet Slim's best friend, fellow waitress Ginny (Juliette Lewis), and her loving boss, Phil (Christopher Maher).

This is followed by a series of trite vignettes in which we see the happy young couple nesting and having a baby girl. There is no sign of Mitch's upcoming psychotic behavior. Then Slim discovers he's having an affair and all hell breaks loose.

Dumb people, dumb plot

Suddenly Mitch is a raving misogynist who has wandered into this movie from the set of a Neil LaBute film. He practically foams at the mouth as he lays down the law to Slim. He tells her that he will have as many affairs as he wants and there is nothing she can do about it, and then he proceeds to punch her out.

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As he's beating her to a pulp, he assures her, "Today's a bad day, tomorrow may be great. Today is the price you pay for your good life." No, Billy, this movie is the price you pay when your TV show is canceled and you have a big mortgage.

So Slim and her daughter Gracie (played by an appealing Tessa Allen) go on the run, with help from the old gang at the diner. Time and again, they're caught by Mitch, who beats her, pulls a gun, and fires it in front of witnesses. Despite all of this insane behavior, she refuses to go to the police, claiming it will traumatize Gracie. As of all this running around and being beaten isn't traumatizing?

In desperation, Slim cuts her hair and changes her lipstick, but whaddya know -- Mitch still finds her! When she finally seeks legal help, an attorney tells her, "The cops can't help you, no one can help you. He's going to keep coming until he kills you." This guy went to law school?

At her wits' end -- you'll be there, too -- Slim finally signs up for self-defense classes. She's taking the law into her own hands, damn it. Not since Demi Moore shaved her head in "G.I. Jane" (1997) have we seen a film montage that displays so much machismo with breasts.

Out of time, not soon enough

But Slim is running out of money: Mitch, of course, has cut her off financially. Out of the blue, Slim tracks down her (up until now) nonexistent father, Jupiter (played by Fred Ward). He's a shady character with lots of money and lots of contacts, shiny suits, a big pinkie ring, the whole deal.

Jennifer Lopez bulks up in "Enough."

Jupiter refuses to help her -- until Mitch sends some thugs to tell him not to help her. Of course, this gets his attention and he begins to shower Slim with cash. Screenwriter Nicholas Kazan must not have been able to give Slim a more plausible way of obtaining money -- like discovering gold in the Klondike.

Finally, finally, finally we get to the big showdown -- a lean and mean J. Lo squares off with the big, bad cad. Lopez throws Campbell around like a wet rag doll, and his handsome face is systematically covered in stage blood. To call the ending predictable is roughly akin to exclaiming that the sky is blue.

Director Michael Apted ("Coal Miner's Daughter," 1980) has apparently -- at least temporarily -- taken leave of his senses. "Enough" is poorly conceived and poorly executed. The entire cast is talented from top to bottom, but they are completely wasted in this muggy melodrama.

If you want to have a good time at "Enough," bring a flashlight and a good book.

"Enough" opens nationwide on Friday.