Starring
Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Tiffany Haddish,
Larenz Tate, Mike Colter, Kate Walsh, Kofi Siriboe, Deborah Ayorinde.
Directed by Malcolm D. Lee. (2017, 122 min).
Raunchy
comedies about wild weekends are a dime a dozen. It's debatable who
we can thank - or blame - for that, but it's arguable that The
Hangover opened-up the floodgates for the most recent batch. Some are
clever and amusing, while most shamelessly pander to the yahoos in
the audience who think bodily functions and wall-to-wall expletives
are inherently funny.
Girls
Trip tries to have it both ways. What's remarkable is how often
it actually succeeds.
The
four stars make-up the Flossy Posse (which would've been a better
title for the film), lifelong friends who've drifted apart over the
years, but decide to have another wild fling during the Essence
Music Festival in New Orleans. One of them, Ryan (Regina Hall), is a
successful self-help author slated to be a keynote speaker at the
event. She and her husband, Stewart (Mike Colter) are publicly the
perfect couple, but in reality he's an unfaithful sleaze and their
marriage is in shambles; they stay together for the sake of the brand
name they've established together. This doesn't sit well with her
friends, especially Sasha (Queen Latifah), who runs a gossip blog and
is in possession of a compromising photo showing Stewart with another
woman.
 |
| Dina would rather have gone to Disneyland. |
That's
really most of the actual plot. The rest of the movie consists of
these girls tearing up the town, playing, drinking, fighting, meeting
celebrities - there are a ton of cameos - and trying to get Lisa
(Jada Pinkett Smith) laid. It's loud, brash, in-your-face and
consistently raunchy, but because the film takes the time to
establish its characters and their friendship, some of these
precarious scenarios are pretty damn funny.
There
are times when the film doesn't know when it quit, though. When Lisa
gets stuck hovering over a crowded street while zip-lining and
spectacularly loses control of her bladder, we laugh at its audacity.
However, having Dina (Tiffany Haddish) follow-up and willingly do the
same thing doesn't make it any funnier. In fact, most of Dina's
over-the-top moments - and there's a lot of 'em - go on far longer
than necessary.
Still,
we genuinely like these ladies and enjoy their company enough to
overlook the film's utter predictability and rather daunting running
time (it moves along pretty briskly for a 122 minute movie). Girls
Trip works as well as it does because of its capable cast,
believable characters (even Dina) and some funny dialogue to go along
with the raunchier bits. It's nasty as hell at times, but never
resorts to being mean-spirited or cruel when mining for laughs (cheap as some of
them are).
And
if nothing else, you'll never look at a grapefruit the same way
again.
EXTRA
KIBBLES
FEATURETTES:
"Planning the Trip"; "Outrageous Moments"; "The
Essence of NOLA"
AUDIO
COMMENTARY: By director Malcolm D. Lee
VIDEO:
"Because of You" by Ne-Yo
DELETED
SCENES & OUTTAKES
DVD
& DIGITAL COPIES
KITTY CONSENSUS:
PURR-R-R...BUT PUT THE KITTENS TO BED EARLY FOR THIS ONE
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