GIRL'S TRIP (2017) FILM REVIEW

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15, 122 Mins 

Gross-out, feminist fun!

This clowning “chick flick” falls awkwardly yet endearingly between bawdy ‘Bridesmaids’ (2011) and the materialistic monstrosities of ‘Sex and the City’ (2008-2010).

Thankfully, however, ‘Girl’s Trip’s punchy mix of women’s liberation and grisly grossness leans further towards that brilliant former film than the morally bankrupt latter.

Set over the course of a long weekend, the film tells the tale of three African American women (Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Tiffany Haddish) reuniting with their gossip hound university pal (Regina Hall) during a getaway trip to New Orleans.
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Adopting a feminist spin on the frat boy flick, the film is typically raucous fare; barging its way between raunchy sex scenes, potty-mouthed dialogue and oozing body fluids!

More refreshing, however, are the racial undertones underpinning the Vodka-fuelled, drug-spiked chaos. With a script based on personal experiences of Screenwriters Tracy Oliver and Erica Rivinoja, the film strives to both empower and provide escapism for black women.

At no point are characters referred to by skin colour while their hen night-style escapades rely entirely on personal gumption and wisecracking humour. Thrilling given cinema’s tendency to shoe-horn non-white roles into “amusing” racial stereotypes or OSCAR-bait dramas like ‘Hidden Figures’ (2017).

Of course – at 2 hours – those like myself may find the neverending onslaughts of dicks, piss and parts slightly patience-testing. An infamous sequence involves an innuendo-charged description featuring a fruit bowl!

However, there’s enough underlying ingenuity and heart here to propel proceedings a cut above your average cookie-cutter comedy. Specifically, this takes form in a contrived and individualistic yet warm and mushy final speech.

Sitting in a cinema surrounded almost entirely by 18-25 year old women, I could hear nothing, but hoots and sniffles; suggesting ‘Girl’s Trip’s  target audience will be more than guaranteed one hell of a night-out!

I was glad to join in with the fun and I say that as a STRAIGHT bloke!
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