Movie Review: Girls Trip (+trailer)

Regina Hall, Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah and Tiffany Haddish.

Girls Trip is full of comedy. It just depends what sort of comedy you like.

I wasn't completely smitten, but hey ho, not every pairing is perfect.

The film is directed by Malcolm D. Lee, who I had never heard of prior to watching the film.

I loved his shots of New Orleans during the festival and in the streets - utterly splendid.

The film stars Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Tiffany Haddish and Jada Pinkett Smith as a group of four childhood friends who go on a trip to New Orleans to attend the Essence Musical Festival, in order to reconnect after becoming busy in their lives.

What follows is two hours of mayhem, as the friends try to rekindle their friendship, cope with some personal issues, and remain sober.

Surprisingly, nothing works out as planned, then everything goes to pot, then it all comes back together again. And that's half the reason why I didn't fall for the film.

It didn't try anything new - it just relied on the simple formula, the usual American comedy route - drugs, alcohol, sex - it's so much fun, isn't it.

Why must all American comedy be based on this? Am I being overly harsh - perhaps I am just looking in the wrong places?

The cast was strong, and there were some wonderfully humorous moments between the four, even if stereotyping was relied on heavily for comedy throughout.

Haddish has the zany, full-on personality to pull that off however, and she is probably the strongest comedic presence in the cast. Her character, however, is a right royal pain in the derriere.