Patience Rewarded in Sensitive, Unhurried ‘Disappearing Acts’

In its portrayal of a couple quietly struggling to hold their relationship together, “Disappearing Acts” is honest and refreshingly true to life.

Debuting tonight on HBO, the movie acquires its authenticity from a sensitive--if somewhat softened--adaptation of a 1989 novel by Terry McMillan, of “Waiting to Exhale” fame; natural, unhurried direction by Gina Prince-Bythewood, who just made such a favorable impression with the feature film “Love & Basketball”; and lived-in performances by Sanaa Lathan, the intense young star of “Basketball,” and Wesley Snipes.

In a very un-Snipes-like role, the actor portrays Franklin Swift, a handyman whom we first glimpse as he meticulously refinishes the wooden floors of an apartment in a Brooklyn brownstone. Its occupant will be Lathan’s Zora Banks, a high school music teacher and aspiring singer-songwriter.

They meet by chance; Franklin comes on, but not too strong; and soon, they’ve fallen for one another.

If getting together is easy, however, staying together is not. Not quite 30, the radiant, self-confident Zora begins working on a demo recording that shows genuine promise. She needs to remain focused on it if she is to move ahead. Franklin, several years older, hopes to earn a contractor’s license and set up his own brownstone-rehabilitation company. But he doesn’t have a high school diploma, and he’s encumbered in ways that he doesn’t immediately share with Zora.

Franklin is a smart and essentially decent guy, but sometimes he just can’t get a break--or doesn’t try hard enough--and his failures begin to weigh Zora down.

The successful moments of their relationship glimmer like candlelight--in laugh-filled games of Scrabble or a tender dance in the living room--while powerful forces, inside and outside their relationship, threaten to blow out the flame.

Songs by Meshell Ndegeocello, working with Cato, help to set a soulful mood, and Lisa Jones’ sensitive script gains still more dimension from the fine supporting performances of Regina Hall and Lisa Arrindell Anderson as Zora’s gal pals, and John Amos and CCH Pounder as Franklin’s parents.

Events unfold slowly from time to time, but that’s part of what makes this movie so lifelike. It’s a universal story with profoundly personal impact.

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“Disappearing Acts” debuts tonight at 9 on HBO, repeating Tuesday at 9 p.m. The network has rated it TV-MA-LS (may be unsuitable for children younger than 17 with special advisories for coarse language and sexual situations).