30 Second Bottom Line: Four African-American men get into each others minds as they play dominoes, drink, smoke some grass and talk about the impact of how they treat women and how the women treat them.

Story Line: What sounds like trash talking on the basketball court moves inside to a table with a game of dominoes. Chris (Terrence Howard) talks trash as much as his other friends but he does more than share information, he likes to provoke intense reactions about the love relationships of Wesley, Glenn and Samuel. Wesley (Clyde Jones) is Mr. Cool with his tam and good looks, and he may be the most volatile of them all. Glenn (Glenn Plummer) is a doctor, whose girl friend flaunts the fact that she attended a business conference with a new boyfriend. Samuel is rebuffed after waiting 14 years to ask his lady for her hand in marriage.

No one is shown in a good light in this film. It shows the unconscionable side of middle class African-American life. None of the relationships has any hope and everyone is playing everyone. The women huddle to plan how to react to men and the men see women as "bitches", "ho's" and "mf's. The director, Kennedy Goldsby has obviously had more bad days than good ones with women in his life. From start to finish the focus is negative. A sample viewpoint is, "Sisters will cut off your Johnson and give it to you, but only after it's been microwaved."

Love Beat The Hell Outta Me is a talky movie that begins with a setting in a house, much like two other recent African-American films. By being located in a nice home, the film has a polished feel while keeping the budget low. This saves money and with the right setting and story, it's an effective technique. Such is the case with Asunder (Tim Ried 1999 film) and Uninvited Guest (Timothy W. Folsome). The difference is that those films have strong characters, plot twists, and quite a bit of action, even in a limited space. Here, there are flashbacks to other houses and to a restaurant that provide an opportunity for more conflict between the men and the women in their lives.

Like Asunder and Uninvited Guest, this is primarily a cast of middle class African-American characters regarding life on the dark side (no pun intended). Unlike those two films, Love Beat the Hell Outta Me, is not a cross over movie, as it's deep into ethnic culture. The negativity is not reserved only for the character's love lives, but also for the logic, or lack thereof, in how they can convince themselves, for example, that they no longer have to honor a financial loan. In some circles it might be called "n" logic as in the "N" word.

The film was literally all over the map with respect to topics. When the threat of violence comes up, so does the OJ trial. What might be a surprise to non African-Americans is that it is unanimous that he was guilty as framed.

When the ladies speak about physical abuse, one woman implies that it can be justified. The reply that puts that in perspective is, "If she slept with the entire NBA, it doesn't justify abuse." This unfortunately characterizes the film. There are stand up punch lines without a story or script to hang on them.

Terrence Howard's character, Chris, generates some entertainment value with his riveting portrayal of being able to pull peoples chains. The use of negative language by Black men is very demeaning to women. On the other side, the women they care for don't respect them. The two arcs create a vicious circle in which there are no winners…only lonely losers.

Love Beat The Hell Outta Me is appropriately named. It's good for a 12-step physical abuse program, but not good entertainment. For entertainment purposes, a single star rating is more than fair. For therapeutic purposes, it's a three. The mysteries of Hollywood distribution decisions continue to confound me. There are many ethnic oriented films that deliver a message in an entertaining manner that merit wide spread distribution. The messages here would have been more effective in a documentary format. Some movies deserve a "straight to video" release. This one deserves no release at all.

Chris: Terrence Howard	Glen: Glenn Plummer
Wesley: Clyde Jones	Director: Kennedy Goldsby