(Photo Credit: Universal Pictures)
A Shining Perfect Example of Black Girl Magic
A lead in a newspaper article is supposed to set up a story and give the reader the main idea of the piece.
However, “Girls Trip” really does not need a traditional lead.
Simply put, “Girls Trip” is the best ensemble comedy featuring all Black women to hit the big screen.
Furthermore, “Girls Trip” benefits from perfect timing because in the midst of the #BlackGirlMagic movement, this Malcolm D. Lee (“The Best Man Holiday”) directed piece is pure magic and encapsulates the everyday life of successful college-educated women who just happen to be funny enough to start a riot of laughter.
In the movie “Girls Trip,” Lisa (Jada Pinkett Smith), Sasha (Queen Latifah), Ryan (Regina Hall) and Dina (Tiffany Haddish) make up the Flossy Posse, four best friends who have been tight since their days at Florida A&M University.
Back in the day, the Flossy Posse would go on epic roads trips like to Howard University’s homecoming, Bayou Classic in New Orleans and Freaknik in Atlanta.
However, like all friendships, time, career and distance tests the strength of their bond.
Although the Flossy Posse still talks, texts and keep up with each other on social media, old beefs and stressful careers add roadblocks to their sisterhood.
However, when life coach and author Ryan Pearce gets invited to the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans as a keynote seminar speaker, she sees the trip as an opportunity to bring the Flossy Posse back into effect.
Unfortunately, when Ryan finds out some life-changing information, the friendships are tested to the extreme.
Having friends that have your back is always a blessing, but having that one ratchet ride or die friend may not be a good thing when one is on a business trip with the sophisticated A-list celebrities who gather annually at the Essence Music Festival.
Although “Girls Trip” focuses on the career and personal life of Ryan, her girl Dina (Haddish) steals the show.
Haddish might be the funniest woman in Hollywood, and if her role on the sitcom “The Carmichael Show” was an appetizer, then “Girls Trip” is definitely the main course.
Haddish steals the show by hiding drugs in her anus before getting on the plane to teaching Lisa how to grapefruit a man to spiking the girls alcohol, creating a tsunami of gut-busting hilarious moments.
Dina celebrates when she is diagnosed with chlamydia because that particular sexually transmitted disease is curable.
But her antics get the Flossy Posse kicked out of the five star hotel they had reserved and gets them relocated to a generously rated one-star hotel with Thug Life painted on the depilated wall.
Lee’s comedic masterpiece of a movie features a who’s who of cameo appearances by Black Hollywood elite.
But what would one expect from a movie set during the Fourth of July weekend in New Orleans?
“Girls Trip” features appearances by 2016 Essence Music Festival performers New Edition, Babyface, Diddy, Mase, Faith Evans, Maxwell, Common, Mariah Carey, Doug E. Fresh and other celebrities like Mannie Fresh, Morris Chestnut and a hilarious appearance by Iyanla Vanzant.
Unfortunately, “Girls Trip” does suffer from a little predictability.
However, fans will go to see “Girls Trip” to fall over in laughter, not to be captured in suspense.
Furthermore, despite the classic comedy that the movie provides, it also provides a message of hope, strength and courage for Black girls with magic.
Lee’s “Girls Trip” has simply given the #BlackGirlMagic movement a movie that is the hilarious soundtrack to their greatness.
REGAL RATINGS
FOUR CROWNS=EXCELLENT
THREE CROWNS=GOOD
TWO CROWNS=AVERAGE
ONE CROWN=POOR
