Girls Trip (Full Review)

Just because the movie is called Girls Trip doesn’t mean this one is strictly for the ladies. After all, everyone enjoys taking a trip with their best friends. The comradery between friends can create for some great laughs. With a director in Malcolm D. Lee (Best Man Holiday, Barbershop 3) that has proven he knows how to handle comedies with ensemble casts, all of the ingredients are ripe for Girls Trip to be summer’s best comedy.

It takes a moment for the heavy laughs to kick in, as the best jokes in the film’s first half come straight from the trailers. The funniest scenes come directly from the personalities of the actresses rather than the writing itself. Tiffany Haddish is no greater example of this. Her exuberant personality shines through to the point that you wonder if she even needed a script. Some of the gross out humor might be overwhelming for some, but it rarely comes in moments that don’t feel organic. Every ‘R’ rated comedy has outrageous scenes, but thankfully Girls Trip throws its gratuitousness at you in realistic ways to make them funny even if you feel like gagging or turning away.

The story, at times, does fall into formulaic tropes of the genre that make it feel wholly unoriginal. There’s the cheating husband, the  “nice guy” (Larenz Tate) who comes along just in time to make the scorned woman think twice about her lousy relationship, the random dance sequence to 90’s music, the inevitable moment where everyone lashes out at each other … it’s all there. But as the film goes along, those redundant themes become acceptable thanks to the performances of the cast. The arc that Hall’s Ryan Pierce goes through, while not a new concept, is dealt with in a very refreshingly real way. Treated as an Oprah-like icon, the fact that her character is able to show both strength and vulnerability is undoubtedly inspiring by the film’s end.

There are other distracting flaws to Girls Trip. Kate Walsh is mostly annoying as Hall’s white agent who uncomfortably uses black expressions. An actress who is actually used to doing comedy would have worked better here. The editing is also noticeably and abundantly lackluster.  In almost every wide shot you can tell that the dialogue and character’s lips aren’t matching up. Yet, these issues pale in comparison to the genuine fun of the movie. The cast looks like they’re having fun and the story, while predictable, stands on strong merits making Girls Trip a trip worth taking.

FINAL GRADE: B

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