Love Beat the Hell Outta Me

Billed as "the black man's Waiting to Exhale," writer-director Kennedy Goldsby's indie film centers on four friends who gather to play dominoes and shoot the breeze. Helping one of their brothers get over breaking up with his girlfriend is the nominal reason for the get-together. Not surprisingly, the conversation devolves into dissin' the "bitches and ho's," which is carried out with plentiful profanity, and while some of the verbal jabs may be on-target, many of them are just cheap shots. While Goldsby occasionally cuts away to the women in question, his visual scheme is to stay focused on the guys. Exhale may have stacked its own deck, but it sure beat the hell out of this exercise in bitchin' and moanin'. Not recommended. (T. Rich)