If a woman wants to hold on to a good man, a little love and appreciation will go a long way.
That's one of the hard lessons learned in "Not Easily Broken," a new film starring Morris Chestnut and Taraji P. Henson as a married couple on a bumpy road.
The movie, which opens Friday, is directed by Bill Duke and co-produced by Bishop T.D. Jakes. It's based on Jakes' book of the same title and is his second novel turned film.
"I think that what makes this film so important is that it is a love story told from a male perspective," Jakes said during a recent trip to Atlanta. "It's a story about marriage and love and intimacy, and how difficult it is to grow in love and not grow apart."
Jakes went to Bible scripture for the title of his story.
"We can have soul ties that develop with people quite quickly for a myriad of reasons that are not easily broken. But the central theme is that when we allow our faith to guide our family ... that love is not easily broken," he said.
Chestnut and Henson portray Dave and Clarice, who have been married for 10 years.
He owns an upstart construction company and would've been a major league baseball player if not for a college injury. She is a successful real estate agent and regularly touts herself as the breadwinner of their large home.
Then their marriage is tested as tragedy strikes and infidelity looms.
"All of this is my attempt to explain one gender to another and do it on screen," said Jakes, adding that he has counseled couples for 32 years.
Jakes notes that while women prefer to talk through problems, men tend to isolate themselves until they have the issue resolved.
He may have found the perfect actor in Chestnut, who laughed about his own reserve and tendency for general responses when he sat down to discuss the film.
"I drew on my conflicts within my marriage to be able to relate to this character," said Chestnut, an executive producer on the film. His wife of 11 years, Pam, is from the Atlanta area.
The sultry actor has starred in several other relationship films and has a large following of female fans to show for it. But Chestnut says he welcomes questions of being typecast as "romantic leading man."
"As long as they call me something," he smiled. "As soon as they stop calling you something, you are no longer working."
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