Mark Reviews Movies: IF NOT NOT, WHEN?

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Review by Mark Dujsik | January 7, 2021

A group of four women, friends in some capacity since high school, somewhat reunite in If Not Now, When?, a sincere, if unfocused and uneven, drama. Co-director and star Tamara Bass' screenplay is certainly generous in terms of giving each of the women's stories its due. Some of those stories, though, are more engaging than others, and one of them is so separated from the rest that its purpose feels isolated.

It all begins with a brief flashback to New York City in 2003, as four teenage girls talk about boys, perform a dance routine, and face an unexpected crisis. One of them, to the surprise of two of the friends, is pregnant and goes into labor in a school bathroom.

Fifteen years later in Los Angeles, the friends, now in their early 30s, are facing assorted difficulties. They haven't been as close as of late, either, considering various familial, romantic, and professional responsibilities.

Tyra (Meagan Good, who also co-directed with Bass) recently suffered an overdose from prescription pain medication. Patrice (Bass), a nurse at the hospital where Tyra is recovering, has called upon Suzanne (Mekia Cox) and Deidre (Meagan Holder) to come support their friend in her time of need.

They all meet in Tyra's hospital room and try to convince her to stay at a rehab facility. Tyra refuses, until she sees the emotional toll her overdose has taken on her now 15-year-old daughter Jillian (Lexi Underwood).

From here on, the story splits into four parts and, beyond that, further splits between Tyra and the three other friends. A pregnant Suzanne is stuck in a loveless and disastrous marriage to a retired professional football player (played by Jon Chaffin), who routinely comes home late and drunk, while also cheating on her more times than she can count.

Patrice, who is watching Jillian while the girl's mother is away (Tyra has a husband, played by Kyle Schmid, who randomly disappears for no discernible reason, only re-appearing to remind us how odd his regular absence is), is long divorced and is hesitant to get into a relationship (for reasons that are oddly kept as a secret from the audience for some time). A kind, attentive, and persistent doctor (played by Edwin Hodge) might change all of that.

Six years ago, Deidre moved to L.A. with her son. Her ex-husband (played by McKinley Freeman) couldn't handle her focus on her dreams, when he only dreamt of having a family. He has come to town, hoping to show his attitude has changed to rekindle their marriage.

Each of these stories plays out on its own in fairly predictable ways, although the instant strength of Bass' screenplay is how it quickly, succinctly, and honestly dismisses any and all of the old resentments between the friends in a single scene. The three who remain outside of Tyra's stay in rehab simply put it all on the table, and the bond between them is too strong to hold any kind of grudge. We need that reconciliation, because there's more than enough melodrama involving each of the women's relationships to make up for that potential and thankfully avoided conflict.

The best scenes here, indeed, involve the friends together, talking about and working through whatever problems—almost all of them involving those previously named men—might arise. Patrice and the doctor have a good run at romance, until she realizes he wants a future she can't provide for him. Suzanne dumps her cad of a husband but fears that her ideal future has been shattered. Deidre comes to believe her ex has changed, arriving just in time for her to take a choreography gig that will take her to Europe, and like with all the other romantic relationships here, we just wait for the other shoe to inevitably drop.

The performances are strong here, and the chemistry between three of the four friends is noteworthy (The fourth, obviously, isn't part of the group for most of the story). We like these characters, mostly because of the charm the actors bring to their portrayals, but we mostly hope, more than that things will work out for them, that Bass will bring the straightforward honesty between the women to some of the scenes involving the men in their lives. It never comes, though.

Then, there's the matter of Tyra, whose story is both easily the strongest and the most removed from everything else in the movie. Her scenes in rehab, bringing herself to admit she's an addict and putting into words all of the pressures her life has had since high school (with the help of an empathetic therapist, played by Valarie Pettiford), are thoughtful and perceptive. Good, too, shows some skill, playing a woman who has internalized all of the pain and expectations put upon her, now living in only doubt and uncertainty.

The inherent strength of that story, though, has some unintended consequences. The other stories of If Not Now, When?, based so much upon romance and the resulting melodrama, seem meager and inconsequential by comparison. When there finally is a real reunion between the quartet, we're left feeling as if only one has actually confronted something of import, while the others have just gone through some stuff.

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