A Thin Line Between Love and Hate
A Thin Line Between Love and Hate is a 1996 American black comedy-romance film directed and co-written by Martin Lawrence, who also stars in the film. Lawrence co-wrote the screenplay alongside Kenny Buford and Bentley Kyle Evans, who has also written for Lawrence's hit television sitcom, Martin, and Kim Bass. In addition to Lawrence, the film's cast includes Lynn Whitfield, Regina King, Bobby Brown, and Della Reese. The film tells the story of Darnell Wright, a ladies' man who finds himself targeted by one of his obsessed lovers: an attractive and successful, but unstable older businesswoman.
| A Thin Line Between Love and Hate | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Martin Lawrence |
| Produced by | George Jackson Doug McHenry |
| Screenplay by | Martin Lawrence Bentley Kyle Evans Kenny Buford Kim Bass |
| Story by | Martin Lawrence |
| Starring |
|
| Narrated by | Martin Lawrence |
| Music by | Roger Troutman |
| Cinematography | Francis Kenny |
| Edited by | John Carter |
Production company | Jackson-McHenry Entertainment You Go Boy! Productions |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema Savoy Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 108 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $8,000,000 |
| Box office | $34,746,109 |
The film was released on April 1996 and went on to gross over $30 million at the box office against a budget of $8 million. The film was shot on location entirely in the city of Los Angeles, California, from June 5 until August 11, 1995. The title for the film is taken from the 1971 song "Thin Line Between Love and Hate" by The Persuaders. R&B trio H-Town recorded a cover version of this song that was included on the film soundtrack. The movie is comparable to Fatal Attraction.
Plot
Nightclub manager Darnell Wright (Martin Lawrence) is a perpetual playboy and hopeless male chauvinist. He works for a nightclub called Chocolate City and aspires to be its owner. He trades VIP privileges at the club for favors from women. Though he is an expert at conning women, he sometimes worries about what his childhood sweetheart Mia (Regina King) thinks of his adventures.
When the classy and elegant Brandi Webb (Lynn Whitfield) steps out of a limousine to enter the club, Darnell feels that he's met his ultimate prize. She initially rejects his come-ons, which only fuels his appetite. He pursues her, showing up with flowers at her real estate . He finally wins over Brandi, only to find out that he's really in love with Mia. One morning, Darnell wakes up to find Brandi in the kitchen making bacon and pancakes. She wants him to hold her but he pushes her off aggressively. But Brandi doesn't take kindly to rejection. She becomes an obsessed femme fatale stalking him, even taking all four wheels off his SUV to ground him from his rounds, shattering his windshield and setting his nightclub on fire. In one scene, she hits herself with a fruit hidden in a sock to cause bruises without fingerprints, and repeatedly slams a door on her arm injuring herself. When Darnell goes to see her at the hospital, he is arrested for a false domestic violence charge. She also threatens Mia's life.
Ending his relationship with Mia is not enough to satisfy Brandi who finally administers Darnell's punishment for his misogyny. Darnell quickly learns the hard way that when you "play", you have to "pay." Darnell, now suffering from a gun wound attempts to take the gun off Brandi causing himself,Brandi and Mia to fall out of the window and land in the pool like in the beginning of the film. The film ends much like the last verse of the song "A Thin Line Between Love and Hate", with an injured Darnell in the hospital with all his friends and family as well as Mia standing over him. He ponders over what happened to him and deciding to change, and a mugshot of Brandi and Darnell's voice saying "Damn I'm truly sorry about what happened to Brandi. I hope baby lands on her feet, but they better make damn sure they fix that dent in her heart before they let her out".
Cast
- Martin Lawrence as Darnell Wright/Narrator
- Lynn Whitfield as Brandi Webb
- Regina King as Mia Williams
- Bobby Brown as Tee
- Della Reese as Mama Wright
- Malinda Williams as Erica Wright
- Daryl Mitchell as Earl
- Roger E. Mosley as Smitty
- Simbi Khali as Adrienne
- Tangie Ambrose as Nikki
- Wendy Raquel Robinson as Gwen
- Stacii Jae Johnson as Peaches
- Miguel A. Núñez Jr. as Reggie
- Faizon Love as Manny
- Michael Bell as Marvis
- Michael Taliferro as Club Security
- Tiny Lister as Tyrone
- Tracy Morgan as Bartender
Reception
A Thin Line Between Love and Hate grossed a little over $34.7 million at the box office against a budget of $8 million.
The critical reception of the film was mostly negative. The film currently holds a 12% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 26 reviews.[1]
Soundtrack
| A Thin Line Between Love and Hate - From the Motion Picture | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
| Released | January 30, 1996 |
| Recorded | 1995-96 |
| Genre | Hip hop, R&B |
| Length | 65:16 |
| Label | Warner Bros. |
| Producer | Tim & Bob, L. T. Hutton, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Roger Troutman, Somethin' for the People, R. Kelly, Soopafly, Battlecat, Eric Benét, D'Flow Production Squad, Touch, B-Love, Gizzo, Dwayne |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    link |
A soundtrack containing hip hop and R&B music was released on January 30, 1996, by Warner Bros. Records. It peaked at #22 on the Billboard 200 and #5 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. It consisted of a blend of hip hop and R&B music. The soundtrack contained three charting singles, "Beware of My Crew", "A Thin Line Between Love and Hate" and "Let's Stay Together".
- "Beware of My Crew" - 4:30 (LBC Crew featuring Tray Deee & South Sentrelle)
- "A Thin Line Between Love and Hate" - 4:50 (H-Town featuring Shirley Murdock)
- "Damned If I Do" - 3:54 (Somethin' for the People featuring Adina Howard)
- "Freak Tonight" - 3:57 (R. Kelly)
- "I Don't Hang" - 4:58 (Soopafly)
- "Love Got My Mind Trippin'" - 3:30 (Ganjah K)
- "Ring My Bell" - 4:20 (Luniz)
- "Playa fo Real" - 4:15 (Dru Down)
- "Chocolate City" - 4:39 (Roger Troutman featuring Shirley Murdock)
- "Thin Line" - 4:36 (Drawz)
- "It's Ladies Night at Chocolate City" - 3:49 (Dark Complexion)
- "Knocks Me Off My Feet" - 3:22 (Tevin Campbell)
- "Let's Stay Together" - 4:53 (Eric Benét)
- "Come Over" - 5:15 (Sandra St. Victor)
- "Way Back When" - 4:28 (Smooth)
- ”Brown Sugar” - 4:23 (D’Angelo)
- Personnel
- Dwayne – producer
- Dave Aron – engineer
- Arvel – programming
- Alison Ball-Gabriel – director, executive producer
- Battlecat – multi instruments, producer
- Eric Benét – vocals, producer
- Chris Brickley – engineer, assistant engineer
- Priest Brooks – keyboards, producer
- Denise Brown – executive producer
- Larry Campbell – producer, mixing
- Tevin Campbell – vocals
- Cat Daddy Ro – programming
- Jon Catfish – keyboards, vocals
- D'Flow – producer
- Kevin "KD" Davis – mixing
- Michael Denten – engineer
- Michael Denton – engineer
- D'Flow Production Squad – producer
- DJ Battlecat – producer
- DJ Slip – engineer
- Dru Down – vocals
- Brian Frye – mixing assistant
- Fuzzy Da Lil' Nasty – vocals
- Brian Gardner – mastering
- Leigh Genniss – engineer, executive producer, mixing
- Stephen George – engineer, mixing
- Barry Hankerson – executive producer
- Yolanda Harris – vocals, backing vocals
- Lili Hayden – violin
- Tom Herzer – engineer
- Adina Howard – vocals
- D’Angelo - vocals
- L.T. Hutton – keyboards, producer
- George Jackson – executive producer
- Greg Jacobs – engineer
- Tim Kelley – drums, keyboards, producer, engineer
- R. Kelly – multi instruments, producer, engineer, mixing
- Vince Lars – saxophone
- Martin Lawrence – executive producer
- Bernard Lilton – arranger, keyboards, producer, vocal arrangement, moog bass
- Alex Lowe – assistant engineer, mixing assistant
- The Luniz – vocals
- Tim "Flash" Mariner – producer, engineer
- Doug McHenry – executive producer
- Aaron McInnes – assistant engineer
- Tony Mills – engineer
- Shirley Murdock – vocals
- George Nash, Jr. – guitar, producer, engineer
- Bill Ortiz – trumpet
- The Piano-Man – keyboards
- Demonté Posey – keyboards, producer, engineer
- Darin Prindle – engineer, mixing
- Steve Prudholme – director
- Timothy Christian Riley – piano, drums, electric piano
- Bob Robinson – keyboards, producer
- Sauce – programming, producer
- Michael Schlesinger – mixing
- Shock-G – arranger, drum programming
- Dexter Simmons – engineer
- Lance "Drawz" Simmons – vocal arrangement
- D.J. Slip – engineer
- Gary Smith – producer, drum programming
- John Jubu Smith – bass, guitar
- Snoop Dogg – keyboards, producer
- Somethin' for the People – producer
- Sandra St. Victor – arranger, vocals, producer
- Booker T – mixing
- Tim & Bob – producer
- Chris Trevett – mixing
- Lester Troutman – engineer
- Roger Troutman – bass, guitar, drums, keyboards, vocals, producer, talk box
- Joe Warlick – mixing assistant
- D'Wayne Wiggins – guitar
- Mike Wilson – assistant engineer, mixing assistant
- Mario Winans – drums