Director: Malcolm D. Lee
Starring: Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Tiffany Haddish
Rating: B-
Initial Thoughts: If you’re looking to blow off some steam and relax with a raucous, silly time, then ‘Girls Trip’ is a great option!
**There’s always the potential for spoilers below! If you think you’d like to give this film a watch, stop now, and then return afterwards!**
Despite suggestions that I should check this movie out weeks ago, I hadn’t even queued it up on any watch-lists of the various streaming services I use. Silly ensemble comedies just aren’t my usual jam. I watch a lot of off-beat indies and low-budget horror and supreme downers. But all of that can leave one feeling pretty anxious and/or down-in-the-dumps, and so it’s nice to have the occasional break, to relax into something more in the vein of entertainment.
When BP was out of town recently, I decided to binge a bunch of dramas and horror movies. You know, like you do when you’re home alone. (I’m dreadfully behind on ‘Handmaids Tale’ and have a pile of horror I’m slogging through.) It’s all well and good to do that in the daytime, but as night fell and I started to get a little more alert about my surroundings—WHAT WAS THAT NOISE? WHERE IS MY BASEBALL BAT?—I decided I would put on something a little more lighthearted as a distraction.
Enter ‘Girls Trip.’ If you’ve been under a rock and don’t know anything about the story, here’s the skinny:
When four lifelong friends travel to New Orleans for the annual Essence Festival, sisterhoods are rekindled, wild sides are rediscovered, and there’s enough dancing, drinking, brawling, and romancing to make the Big Easy blush.
—Universal Pictures
Director Malcolm D. Lee did a fantastic job assembling the four actresses known as ‘The Flossy Posse.’ There is such amazing chemistry between the ladies! The movie opens on Ryan (Regina Hall), a seemingly poised and polished self-help guru and best-selling author of the book, ‘You Can Have It All’; it’s quickly apparent that this mantra is simply a facade for her actual life. After deciding to attend the Essence Festival in New Orleans as a keynote speaker, Ryan takes this opportunity to reunite her best friends from college at the same time. Enter Sasha (Queen Latifah), a celebrity gossip blogger (who obviously has some sort of mutual beef with Ryan that isn’t explained right away); Lisa (Jada Pinkett Smith), filling the role as former-sexual-dynamo-turned-prude; and Dina (Tiffany Haddish), who can only be described as the literal personification of a hurricane (and arguably the most entertaining of the bunch). Once they all arrive in New Orleans, the shenanigans abound! There’s cheating spouses, VIP backstage passes to the Superdome, gross drunk old man peen, old flames, college age cougar-enthusiasts, not one BUT TWO visible showers of urine, a 200 year-old bottle of absinthe, and what is arguably the first ever mainstream film depiction of a demonstration of ‘grapefruiting.’
I had a lot of fun watching this movie! Twice I had to hit ‘pause,’ so I could get my laughter under control. ‘Girls Trip’ is a two-hour vacation for your brain, if you’ll just let yourself sit back and relax and have a little fun. There are moments that are incredibly crass, but I’m willing to bet that you’ve endured worse from films of the same nature with all male casts. These four actresses really appear to be having a great time, and it’s infectious!
Final Thoughts: Grab a few gal pals, and give this a watch when you’re looking to have a few laughs and blow off a little steam. 200 year-old bottle of absinthe? Optional. Maybe chill a bottle of rosé instead.
Girls just want to have coffee.
A Place For Everything. 