Girls Trip was a little too crude, too slapstick. I didn’t mind much, though, for it was genuinely fun to watch.
Girls Trip Synopsis
At the height of her career, writer Ryan Pierce has an epiphany and realises she badly misses her closest friends Sasha, Dina, and Lisa. She then decides to organise a weekend in New Orleans during the annual Essence Music Festival. In the crazy night that follows, the four friends rekindle their sisterhood, as well as come to terms with the life failures they have kept hidden for far too long.
Snappy Review
Road trip movies and all their variants aren’t really my cup of tea. Funny as they usually are, I feel most rely too heavily on crude humour and gags.
Characterisation in such movies tends to be way over woven or exaggerated too, just to facilitate some sort of dramatic plotline. The impression I typically get at the end of such movies is, hey, only colourful people like these are able to have such unforgettable life experiences.
Wait, what am I thinking? Saying? Nobody can have such memorable experiences during any trip! It’s sheer make-believe. Often overly vulgar and tasteless too.
In the same way, Girls Trip is crude and shocking. Stuffed full of language and gags you wouldn’t want to use on your mother. Tiffany Haddish’s character, at the same time, is also too outrageous to be anywhere near believable. To an extent, the same for Jada Pinkett Smith’s Lisa too.
The above said, I think Girls Trip still works to a certain degree because of the fun the four leads had with their roles. It’s infectious fun, one that sweeps you up and invites you to partake in the abandonment. More importantly, this fun also communicates a sense of genuine friendship between the four women. This bond is, in turn, peppered with surprisingly tender and insightful moments that are terrifically easy to relate to.
To share, while watching, I found myself reminded of my closest school friends. And while my gang doesn’t exactly party like the cast, not anymore anyway, it still filled me with a deep and heartening warmth.
This, I dare say, is the greatest triumph of Girls Trip. Slightly unrealistic and full of clichés it might be, it still successfully celebrates the wonderful bond that is lifelong friendship. The movie does make you long for such friends, or glad to already have some.
Click here to view the trailer.
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