Girls Trip Review
2.5 Palm Trees out of 4
by Manuel Reynoso
Girls Trip is a 2017 comedy film directed by Malcolm D. Lee and written by Kenya Barris and Tracy Oliver, from a story by Erica Rivinoja and the screenwriters. The film stars Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Tiffany Haddish, and Jada Pinkett Smith.
After years apart, best friends Ryan, Sasha, Lisa, and Dina head to the essence festival and New Orleans. What started as a way to bring the Flossy Posse back together, the trip leads to a wild adventure beyond what they could have imagined.
Girls Trip, I felt, offers more than what the previews promised me. It’s a whole lot funnier, a whole lot nastier, and a lot more sentimental that I would have thought. Sure, it rehashes plenty of tired tropes, and doesn’t really add anything new or daring in regards to its comedy. However, to the films credit, it doubles down on every raunchy, dirty joke that it makes. Screenwriter’s Kenya Barris and Tracy Olive go all in on their jokes, which either crash and burn spectacularly, or reach great heights. Girls Trip is definitely funny, and features a lot of gross out humor. So viewers with a weak disposition will probably want to skip out of this one.
My main gripe of girl’s trip is its strict following of the same tired Hollywood story beats that all films of this type follow. If you frequently watch movies, and have a good enough instincts, Girls Trip can be entirely too safe and predictable. In the grand scheme of things this isn’t a huge problem but also means that you are not missing much if you don’t watch this film.
Largely, most of this film’s success can be attributed to the cast’s stellar performances. The leading ladies all do a fabulous job bringing each of their respective characters to life on screen. Tiffany Haddish in particular is what steals the show. Haddish’s wild performance starts at a 9 and just goes up from there. While Girls Trip might arguably be forgettable as the year goes on, Haddish’s performance will be the last thing I forget.
Girls Trip accomplished exactly what I needed it to in order to have a good time. It was funny, it was raunchy, and was competently produced. If you find yourself needed a comedy fix at the movies, then Girls Trip can be exactly what you needed. However, outside of that I’m not very inclined to recommend the film. It’s not exactly groundbreaking or all too deep. But sometimes, all we need is a good laugh. Rated R 2h 2m
