Universal Pictures
Girls Trip gathers together a group of four former college friends who have drifted apart over the last five years and now find themselves living completely separate lives. Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and Tiffany Haddish star together as a group of friends who reunite in New Orleans for a weekend to promote Ryan’s new book. Also joining them is Ryan’s football player husband, played by Mike Colter. The group, which they call the Flossy Posse, sets out to make a memorable weekend at the Essence festival filled with alcohol and partying. The group contains all the stereotypical characters you might see in a movie like this. Regina Hall plays Ryan, the workaholic who focuses more on her career than her relationships, Queen Latifah is Sasha, the friend constantly searching for the latest gossip to share on her popular blog, Jada is Lisa, the ‘mother figure’ who has children of her own, and Tiffany is Dina, the outlandish party-goer always looking for a good time. While attending the weekend festival together, the friends finds themselves in situations that will either renew their friendship or end it completely.
Malcom D. Lee is back in the director’s chair for this new comedy. This is sort of a reunion for Lee as he has worked with part of the cast before in movies like Barbershop: The Next Cut and both The Best Man movies. With serious on-screen chemistry, the group of actresses create a believable group dynamic that leads to some funny moments.
I had no expectations going into this raunchy R-rated comedy, but I did enjoy the movie more than expected. This movie is clichéd at its core as it takes many of its storylines from similar movies and blends them together into a two-hour spectacle. The group has plenty of secrets they keep to themselves and the end of the film is mostly dedicated to them resolving their numerous issues which leads to a rather anticlimactic ending. The storyline has all the clichés of friends not seeing each other for years, reuniting for a fun trip, getting in a massive fight, and eventually working it out.
The standout actress in this movie is certainly Tiffany Haddish. She could have easily become the annoying friend of the group but instead she seemed to be the most relatable. Dina is written as a character who is fiercely loyal and isn’t afraid to speak up and punch someone for bumping into her. Amongst all her co-stars, Tiffany drives the movie towards the funniest scenes and brings out the humor in all the other characters. Without Dina in the friend group, the humor certainly would have been lacking through most of the movie.
Girls Trip is a very vulgar movie that pulls no punches with its constant sex jokes, drinking, and party scenes. Viewers who are easily offended may not find some of the more extreme scenes to be very funny as it certainly pushes the limits of acceptable behavior. Throughout some of the crazier party scenes the four friends get away with acts that likely wouldn’t fly in real life. Public urination, drunken fist fights, and randomly attacking fellow party-goers are only a few of the mishaps the women find themselves in. Of course, believability has never been a concern for movies like this and it certainly leads to some of the film’s funniest scenes.
Girls Trip may seem eerily similar to many of the movies you have seen in the past as it follows a rather cookie-cutter plot line. However, if taken for what it is, audiences will likely get some good laughs out of their theater experience. The film brings together four friends, with real issues that many of us may be able to relate to, and creates an atmosphere that may remind you of your own crazy college days. Sensitive audiences may not enjoy Girls Trip but I believe that it’s certainly a good time if you’re up for it.
Girls Trip runs 2 hours 2 minutes, and is rated R for crude and sexual content throughout, pervasive language, brief graphic nudity, and drug material.
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