Editing Waiting to Exhale (section)

===Critical response===
Upon release, the film received mixed reviews from critics. Film critic Susan Stark from ''[[The Detroit News]]'' stated, "For all the pleasure there is in seeing effective, great-looking black women grappling with major life issues on screen, ''Waiting to Exhale'' is an uneven piece."<ref name="rottentomatoes1" /> Reviewer Liam Lacey from ''[[The Globe and Mail|The Daily Globe and Mail]]'' wrote of the film, "[It] never escapes the queasy aura of ''Melrose Place'': just another story about naive people with small problems."<ref name="rottentomatoes1">[https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/waiting_to_exhale/?page=1&critic=approved&sortby=date&name_order=asc&view=#contentReviews Waiting to Exhale (1995)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240915181618/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/waiting_to_exhale?page=1&critic=approved&sortby=date&name_order=asc&view=#contentReviews |date=September 15, 2024 }} ''Rotten Tomatoes''. Retrieved February 21, 2010</ref> However, film critic [[Roger Ebert]] positively reviewed the film, stating that it is "an escapist fantasy that women in the audience can enjoy by musing, 'I wish I had her problems'—and her car, house, wardrobe, figure and men, even wrong men."<ref>[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19951222/REVIEWS/512220305 Waiting to Exhale (1995)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010112702/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19951222/REVIEWS/512220305 |date=October 10, 2012 }} ''Chicago Sun Times''. Retrieved February 21, 2010</ref> The film is notable for having an all-[[African-American]] cast. The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' called it a "social phenomenon".<ref>Dutka, Elaine. [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-12-31-ca-14282-story.html "The Money's Where the Action Is; Movies: Big budgets and special effects push the film industry to yet another record performance"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207190036/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-12-31-ca-14282-story.html |date=February 7, 2023 }}, ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. May 22, 2006. December 31, 1996.</ref> The film received a 56% approval rating at [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], based on 34 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The site's consensus states: "''Waiting to Exhale'' looks at life's ups and downs from an underseen perspective -- albeit one that's poorly served by uneven acting and a sporadically interesting story."<ref name="rottentomatoes1"/>

In the book ''[[Is Marriage for White People?]]'' writer and [[Stanford Law School]] professor [[Ralph Richard Banks]] states that the film is a perfect example of the problems African-American women have in finding serious relationships.<ref name=city>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[City Journal (New York)|City Journal]]|url=http://www.city-journal.org/2011/bc0902jm.html|title=Marrying Out|author=John H. McWhorter|access-date=September 15, 2011|archive-date=October 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011112452/http://www.city-journal.org/2011/bc0902jm.html|url-status=live}}</ref>