Morris Chestnut, left, Taraji P. Henson and Jenifer Lewis star in Not Easily Broken.

TriStar Pictures

A traffic accident threatens to throw an already wobbly marriage onto the rocks in the romantic drama Not Easily Broken.

The title refers to the marriage ties that bind Dave and Clarice Johnson. But those ties are tested mightily in a film that has enough melodramatic subplots to fill at least two soap operas.

Sometimes the script’s sudden turns of events — that auto accident, a tragic death, an adulterous temptation, a mean-spirited father with a grudge — seem contrivances to wrench the plot into wildly unexpected directions. But the cast plays Brian Bird’s script with such sincerity, helped by director Bill Duke downplaying of the script, that it’s easy to get caught up in the moment and the momentum.

Not Easily Broken opens with the hearts-and-flowers wedding of Dave (Morris Chestnut) and Clarice (Taraji P. Henson) whose promise of a bright future together are narrated in sugary dialogue by Dave.

Jump to a few years later. Dave’s pro baseball career has been cut short by an injury. He’s trying to get his building and remodeling business up to speed, but it’s Clarice’s commissions as a hot-shot real estate broker that’s keeping their high-flying lifestyle afloat. (Today this seems like a fantasy, the real estate market having tanked between the production and release of the film.)

Dave has been reduced to playing second fiddle in the marriage. He wants children. She’s too busy. He takes comfort in coaching a Little League team in a poor neighborhood. Clarice resents his efforts as time wasted. He likes to spend time shooting hoops with his three buddies. She wants him home.

The dynamics of the marriage, already on a downhill slide, take a turn for the worse when Clarice is injured in a car accident. To help her recuperate, Clarice’s controlling and opinionated mother (Jenifer Lewis) moves in. An unhappy woman with baggage full of bile, she barges her way through the marriage, belittling Dave at every turn and dominating the household. When Dave takes an interest in the son of the physical therapist (Maeve Quinlan) who has helped Clarice get back on her feet, Mama fuels Clarice’s fears that Dave is having an affair with the white woman.

All this is not quite as sodden as it sounds. There’s occasional comic relief from Kevin Hart as one of Dave’s friends, who brightens every scene he’s in with funny asides that define the differences between men and women. Chestnut is good, too, in his underplaying of Dave, putting up with histrionics from his wife and mother-in-law far longer than one might think possible in a house that is in turmoil. He’s a caring coach who brings understanding to the shortcomings of some boys on his team with whom he takes a fatherly interest. One can identify with Dave more than with the short-fused Clarice.

There are fine moments in the film, too: the church pastor trying to smooth over the differences that threaten to pull Dave and Clarice apart; an emotional heart-to-heart between Clarice and her mother in which the younger woman finally breaks free from the bonds of unhappiness that have kept her down.

Not Easily Broken may tread a little too strongly into soap opera territory, but it rings true enough that many people will recognize themselves on screen.

***Not Easily Broken

Starring: Morris Chestnut, Taraji P. Henson, Jennifer Lewis, Maeve Quinlan, Kevin Hart, Niecy Nash.

Rated: PG-13, contains violence, adult themes, brief profanity.

mjanuson@projo.com