"Not Easily Broken": Stars Chestnut, Henson rise above predictability

In "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Taraji P. Henson (whose breakthrough came a couple of years back, in "Hustle & Flow") effortlessly became the movie's gentle heart, playing a character who was infinitely sweet yet soulfully real. Now, in the marriage melodrama "Not Easily Broken," this fine actress has a role considerably more tart; Morris Chestnut, playing opposite her, gets to play the nice guy. Together they overcome some screenplay problems and create some genuine chemistry, making us care about their characters' fates.

Based on a novel by pastor and author T.D. Jakes, "Not Easily Broken" focuses on Dave (Chestnut) and Clarice (Henson), an L.A. couple facing difficulty in their marriage. He's a kind, thoughtful guy who works hard as a contractor, volunteers as a baseball coach with inner-city kids and dreams of being a dad; she's a stressed-out, career-obsessed real estate agent who, encouraged by her shrewish mother (Jenifer Lewis), has got them into an elegant home they can't really afford and shoves her husband away when he tries to talk about kids. She yells at poor Dave a lot, often about "wasting his time" with the baseball kids, and generally behaves like a brat — until a sudden accident leaves Clarice depressed and vulnerable, and Dave wondering how hard he needs to work at saving their future together.

All this sounds rather soap-opera-ish — and it is, particularly when Clarice's pretty physical therapist (Maeve Quinlan) and Dave start eyeing each other, and the therapist's angelic son gets his own tragic plot twist. And it's frustrating that the deck seems so stacked against Clarice: When the couple enters therapy, it's all too obvious that all their problems are the wife's fault, and that poor angelic Dave just needs to wait her out. The ending, though affecting, feels preordained, and director Bill Duke keeps cutting to shots of greeting-card clouds, or weirdly blue-lit gym sequences, to move things along.

But in Henson and Chestnut, he's got a pair of stars with real charisma, and they reach out to the audience, investing us in Dave and Clarice's marriage and making it matter whether they stay or go. In particular Henson, whose tightly-wound Clarice is always reacting to something, takes a role that could be purely shrill and finds something quiet and heartfelt within it. "Not Easily Broken," despite its excesses, has a refreshing real-people vibe to it: Dave and his friends talk as if they've known each other forever, and Clarice and her mother echo each other in the long-held patterns of family. It's predictable but ultimately moving; a glimpse of a bond near-broken yet straining to become whole again.

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725

or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com