“A much needed, relatable, make you laugh until your cheeks hurt and you get a headache, but pulls on your emotional strings just a tad, kind of comedy.”

— Shaneé McDaniel, Swirl Girl

“I haven’t laughed this hard from a movie in so long. I think my soul laughed!”

— Shaneé McDaniel, Swirl Girl

I feel this movie was released right on time. It’s summertime; kids are out of school, people are either on vacation, planning for vacation, or have already vacationed, and political stresses are all amongst all of other things going on in every day life. A good laugh, better yet a lot of good laughs are definitely needed right about now. This movie definitely serves up tons of laughs with a side of rate R. Girls Trip is basically a much needed, relatable, make you laugh until your cheeks hurt and you get a headache but pulls on your emotional strings just a tad, kind of comedy!

It starts with giving you a quick summary of how these girls were so close and grew up together being best friends and there for each other. They called themselves the “Flossy Posse”. The movie starts with laughs! Then it quickly shows how becoming adults and focusing on careers, family, life struggles, and location differences can put a strain on friendships and eventually lead to long periods of time when you do not see or hang out with your girls. Until an amazing opportunity presents itself in New Orleans and that much needed time with your friends, the ones who know you best and have been there for you through the highs and lows, will actually come true and the adventure will start soon!

You are taken on a ride as soon as they prepare to meet each other and from the previews and movie trailers, the airport scene really kicks it off. The movie theater erupted in laughter so many times within the first 10 minutes of the movie and barely stopped for the rest of it. Finally, you sense that something is just not right with 2 of the girls and eventually with one character and her husband. Then BAM! You are hit with it. The perfect, successful married couple has a scandalous secret that is about to be exposed and shock the entire world. The husband has a “side-chick” who has become extremely bold and the wife admits to her friends that she already knows about her cheating husband. Her friends are stunned and confused! Now starts the journey of the hilarious outings, shocking moments, “oh hell no” and “uh oh” reactions, and the teachable and women empowerment scenes. The friends end up having a huge fall out but eventually come back together because their love and support for each other is undeniable and unbreakable.

I’ll leave it there. I mean can’t tell everything. However, I would like to add, for the ladies, that you would definitely have some eye candy. The ladies did not hold back on their sounds and comments in the theater about the good-looking men in the movie. There was Larenz Tate (Menace II Society, Love Jones, Crash, Why Do Fools Fall In Love), Kofi Siriboe (Queen Sugar, Straight Outta Compton, Kicks, Whiplash), and William Levy (Single Moms Club, Addicted, Single Ladies, Resident Evil).

Malcom D. Lee, the director, chose a great cast that fully embodied their characters. Seriously, can you really go wrong with Regina Hall, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and Queen Latifah? Plus the not so new, newcomer comedian, Tiffany Haddish, definitely stole the show and held her own with the big name actresses. Plus the screenwriters also wrote the very successful TV shows Black-ish and Survivors Remorse. Can you say homerun for the cast and crew?!? You can’t help but watch the movie and try to figure out which character you are. I went to see this movie with my girls and we immediately began identifying who each person was in the movie. Which made it even more relatable and much funnier. So let me quickly breakdown each character:

“The Boss” – Ryan Pierce played by Regina Hall, is a very successful, self-help enthusiast and best selling author, and speaker. She was given the opportunity to be the keynote speaker at the Essence Festival in New Orleans. Her husband is a retired NFL player and they have the chance of a lifetime of scoring a huge deal with a company that wants them to have their own show as a dynamic power couple. Her life seems perfect until her husband’s infidelity becomes public. She needed the girls trip more than she knew.
The Gossip – Sasha Franklin played by Queen Latifah, is a once successful blogger then turned into struggling celebrity gossip blogger. Her and Regina Hall’s character have some tension between them because of a business deal falling through. She really needs a big story or she is about to lose everything. She gets the story first about her friend’s husband cheating scandal. She’s now torn on what to do but finally makes a decision that doesn’t turn out how she expected… or does it?
The Mom – Lisa Cooper played by Jada Pinkett-Smith, is a somewhat newly divorced nurse with two children and living at home with her mother. She was once a “hot momma” with sass appeal and a spunky side now turned into a reserved, control freak, and old-fashioned yet kind-hearted and wants everyone to get along. Her children are her world and that’s all that matters. I feel she needed this girls trip just as much as Ryan Pierce (Regina Hall’s character).
The Wild One – Dina played by Tiffany Haddish, is the hilarious foul mouthed, tell it like it is, wild child, partying and having a good time, overly sexual, weed smoking, and a little ditsy but highly loyal to her girls character. She stole the show in the movie and kept the laughs coming! I mean, she beat up her co-worker for eating her Go-gurt yogurt and was happy she only had chlamydia because it was curable.

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