NOT EASILY BROKEN

Director: Bill Duke

Stars: Morris Chestnut, Taraji P. Henson, Jenifer Lewis, Maeve Quinlan, Eddie Cibrian, Kevin Hart

Year: 2009

Rating: PG-13

Bill Duke's film about what happens when marriage - and life in general - hits you with the hardest of curve balls works on one level ... and falls painfully short on another. Though well-cast with talented actors (including recent Oscar-nominee Taraji P. Henson), it's perhaps the script - written by Brian Bird and based on the novel by T.D. Jakes - that somehow falls short, making the film sometimes come off as more soap opera than drama ... the characters less than three-dimensional.

Morris Chestnut stars as Dave Johnson, a man lucky enough to find the woman of his dreams in Clarice (Henson), whom he happily marries with his eye on the rookie major-league baseball contract he's just signed. The wedding comes off perfectly ... but then the film cuts to over a year later, where we learn (via narration from Chestnut, a staple of the film) that the baseball career has ended after one year, thanks to a leg injury, and now Dave drives a beat-up truck for his one-man construction business, while Clarice has developed quite a career for herself selling high-end real estate. It is, in fact, that career that keep the Johnsons in a huge house in an exclusive neighborhood, with a sky-high mortgage, while Dave tries to get his own "career" off the ground ... while still coaching a local little league team with his best buddies Brock (Eddie Cibrian) and Tree (Kevin Hart), in the hopes of passing his own baseball career dreams onto the boys.

Since their marriage, Clarice seems to feel the stress of being the main bread-winner; she's turned fairly shrewish, constantly harping on and putting down her husband - particularly his devotion to the little league team. One evening, when Dave is late coming home on the night of Clarice's award banquet (she's won Realtor of the Year for her company), the two have a bitter and heated argument on the way to the ceremony ... during which they are the victims of a vicious (and very well-filmed) crash, when another car runs a red light and smashes into Clarice's side of their car.

Dave is left with a few cuts and bruises, but Clarice nearly loses her life and is left with a twisted and broken leg that also twists and breaks her spirit. Her mother (Jenifer Lewis, wonderful here) - who's never particularly gotten along with Dave, and blames him for the accident - moves in with the young couple, causing further tension, and soon Dave and Clarice seem to be on the way out ... especially when Dave starts to find himself getting feelings for the physical therapist helping Clarice to recover (Maeve Quinlan), a white woman with a young son that reminds Dave of his own longing to be a father - a longing Clarice has never supported.

Not Easily Broken is a decent drama with appropriate touches of comic-relief moments (nicely supplied by Kevin Hart in particular), two problems with the film, for me, became obvious upfront. First, Dave is too perfect; the guy is perfectly painted a victim here, as he's not only a good guy - but the perfect guy. Not without flaws, certainly - but seemingly without a negative trait in him (which, of course, makes the mother-daughter team of Henson and Lewis' characters come off that much worse). And to me, in the film, that just came off a bit unrealistic.

Secondly (and worse), the thrust of the film - particularly in the beginning - isn't driven by the actions or attitudes of the characters (as any good film is), but instead by fate and what happens TO them. First there's Dave's injury on the baseball field, ending his brief career before it even really begins ... and then the car accident that leaves both Clarice and the Johnson marriage shattered. Really, there were a couple of times in the film when I thought, "Damn, what else could happen to these people?" - and the lack of plot revolving around the characters and what they've directly done or caused sort of gave the entire film a false note for me.

That said, Not Easily Broken is a decent-enough movie about what happens when life pushes you to the edge ... to the point where you have to learn how to live anew. It's a nice afternoon's diversion, or a well-acted drama worthy renting, with a nice ending that may make you shed a tear or two ... though not Duke's best work, by far. **1/2 - Reel Mediocre-Reel Cool