Several months ago I was sitting in an almost-empty theater waiting to catch a matinee when a red Rated-R, not-safe-for-all-audiences preview popped up on the screen (I'd never seen one of those before). Within seconds I was in tears laughing at the trailer of "Girls Trip" and was still laughing long after the preview was over just thinking about it. I thought, "This movie is going to be a hit," and put opening weekend on my calendar.
A friend of mine gathered the girls together at Studio Movie Grill in the Colony to see the movie last night. There was palpable excitement in the theater as we waited for the movie to start... even though there was loud laughter and talking and cellphone screens flashing girlfriend selfies, nobody seemed to care (even me - at any other theater I would've been put off by the distractions). We were all there in solidarity to witness the best movie of the summer... the ambiance was a bonus! There wasn't an empty seat in the theater and I've heard tickets were a bit difficult to come by today because of all the buzz, but trust me... you want to get yourself in a theater to see this movie.
Girls Trip is about four lifelong friends getting together for the weekend at Essence Fest in New Orleans. What ensues is a trip down memory lane where the ladies hash out personal dramas but eventually reconnect. Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith give us all a "Set It Off" reunion while Regina Hall triggers outfit envy throughout the film. But it's pseudo-newcomer Tiffany Haddish who absolutely steals the show. Her unapologetic, unfiltered escapades will give you life... I promise. I laughed so hard at her performance that, at times, it was hard to catch my breath. She is a star in every way and I wonder how she went this long without a blockbuster comedy under her belt (she does now). So many aspects of this movie would've seemed ridiculous but Haddish made them believable and endearing. Add in some star cameos... everyone from New Edition to Morris Chestnut (even Iyanla Vanzant) and the film was complete. If I had one complaint about the movie, it's a quick Mariah Carey cameo. You could hear an audible "meh" from the theater when she popped on the screen. Otherwise, it's two hours worth of awesomeness.
I can't help compare Girls Night to the uber-promoted "Rough Night" featuring Scarlett Johansson. Frankly, there's no comparison. There have probably been a handful of times I actually considered walking out of a film because it was THAT bad... and Rough Night is on that short list. It was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. A quick Google search tells me that it made approximately $36MM worldwide. Girls Trip is on track to bring around that in on its first weekend.
I can't recommend this enough. I'm planning on seeing it again soon. Kudos to Will Packer for producing the summer's biggest hit!