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Movie Review: “Girls Trip” Rolls Through The Big Easy With Gut-Wrenching Humor And Reckless Abandon

[yasr_overall_rating]
 

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.

Four girlfriends who haven’t hung together in years decide to go on a trip to the annual Essence Festival in New Orleans to bond with each other and to find solace from their stress-filled lives. While many things have changed since they were last together five years ago, their individual need for an escape serves as a group goal and is a priority among all the other issues they are faced with. Unbeknownst to each other, Ryan Pierce (Regina Hall) an Author and the most successful of the group, is facing infidelity issues with her husband and business partner Stewart Pierce (Mike Colter), Sasha Franklin (Queen Latifah) is running from bill collectors, Lisa Cooper (Jada Pinkett-Smith) is totally out of touch with modern times, and Dina (Tiffany Haddish) has just lost her job. As the movie opens, each of them is pulled away from their crazy lifestyles with the hope that the trip will re-energize them and bring closure to some unresolved issues they had with one another. Since the major expense of the trip has been underwritten by Ryan through her Keynote Speaker arrangement with her employer and accompanying Agent, their main focus is to enjoy the weekend through fun-filled activities.

Before the plane leaves the ground, Dina, who seems to be the ringleader for ratchetness, stands out as the one who is going to ensure that there will be no holds barred on any phase of the trip, and no sooner than they land and get to their over-the-top suite, her behavior when dealing with Ryan’s husband’s side piece, who has shown up as well, gets them kicked out of the hotel. Unwilling to allow that to deter them, the group decides to take whatever room is available at a questionable motel, and they are immediately met by a flasher who bares all just for the wow factor. Still determined to stay true to their goal, the group sets out on an all-night fantasy trip on the streets of the Big Easy that includes drinking, drugs, sex, and ultimately, losing all control, then finding themselves in the unenviable position of trying to recover the foundation of their friendship before the highly-anticipated keynote speech to be given by Ryan. Ryan, who has tried to maintain her sanity throughout the entire ordeal, is not only faced with maintaining the business partnership in spite of her husband’s infidelity but is also faced with salvaging the reputation of having it all and proving it to the bulk of her circle of influence. When the girlfriends fail to give her the support she needs, it is an old friend Julian Stevens (Larenz Tate) who shows up to save the day for her, as well as the entire group. In the end, the ladies realize that they are greater together than their individual faults and they resolve to work it out so they can move on with their lives.

In spite of the hardships the girlfriends face, the underlying humor and overall ratchetness throughout the trip keeps the audience in stitches almost every other moment of the film. While hugely successful Director Malcolm D. Lee has used his leverage to maintain an A-List (Maxwell, Mariah Carey, Morris Chestnut, Sean Combs, Common, Iyanla Vanzant, Boys To Men, Mike Epps) of stars whose cameos appear throughout the Essence Festival showing, it is Tiffany Haddish (Dina) who steals the show while carrying the weight of the film on her comedic shoulders. If you aren’t shy about keeping it real, this two hours and two minutes of hilarious ratchetness is one that you won’t want to miss!

Now playing in theaters

 

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Tracee Bond

Tracee is a movie critic and interviewer who was born in Long Beach and raised in San Diego, California. As a Human Resource Professional and former Radio Personality, Tracee has parlayed her interviewing skills, interest in media, and crossover appeal into a love for the Arts and a passion for understanding the human condition through oral and written expression. She has been writing for as long as she can remember and considers it a privilege to be complimented for the only skill she has been truly able to master without formal training!