Main Cast: Wesley Snipes, Sanaa Lathan, Lisa Anderson, Regina Hall
Release Year: 2000
Country: US
Run Time: 120 minutes
Plot
In this drama based on the novel by Terry McMillan, Zora (Sanaa Lathan) is a woman who dreams of becoming a singing star, meanwhile supporting herself as a schoolteacher. Franklin (Wesley Snipes), a father of two whose divorce is about to become final, has lost his job as a construction worker and is trying to scrape up the money to launch his own business. Neither is looking for a relationship, but when Zora moves into Franklin's neighborhood, they find they're attracted to each other and must deal with the ups and downs of being in love. Produced for the premium cable network HBO, Disappearing Acts also stars John Amos and CCH Pounder; Lisa Jones wrote the screenplay from McMillan's novel. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Bolstered by a knockout performance from the perennially underutilized Wesley Snipes, director Gina Prince-Bythwood's adaptation of the popular Terry McMillan novel avoids "you go, girl" clichés to fashion a richer, more serious look at modern urban romance. If anything, Disappearing Acts is a sort of anti-romantic comedy: Price-Bythwood finds a dark undercurrent of regret and desperation in the material, perfectly complemented by the pensive, cautious performances of her two leads. In what could have been another lecherous-boyfriend role, Snipes gives a riveting, sensuous, and utterly convincing turn as the brutish, non-communicative construction worker whose modest ambitions are consistently undermined by his low self-image. In the cushier role of the educated, upwardly mobile striver, Sanaa Lathan finds ways to suggest romantic emptiness and longing without implying that it's impossible for a young woman to achieve both a successful career and a satisfying love life. Even within the confines of made-for-cable cinema, Prince-Bythwood's work is loose and visually assured; she gives the script's conflicts room to breathe -- or fester, as the case may be -- and Snipes and Lahan respond, imbuing every sigh and pregnant pause with added weight and nuance. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
