Girls Trip BD + Screen Caps

THE MOVIE — 1.25/5

Let’s be up front here. I’m a white male in his mid-30s living, so clearly Girls Trip was not a movie aimed at my demo which is fine. But it does go to show that perhaps I didn’t quite get the humor considering my limited upbringing.

Four lifelong friends — successful writer/media mogul Ryan Pierce (REGINA HALL), divorced mother Lisa Cooper (JADA PINKETT SMITH), all-around ditz Dina (TIFFANY HADDISH) and online tabloid writer Sasha Franklin (QUEEN LATIFAH) — go on a trip to attend Essence Festival in New Orleans where Ryan is set to be a keynote speaker and set to close a lucrative deal.

But things get off to a rough start when Sasha receives pictures of Ryan’s husband (MIKE COLTER) with another woman and when he’s spotted in the lobby of their hotel, Dina goes crazy and attacks him leading to management to kick them out, though Ryan stays behind and confronts him, ultimately kind of making up. So, with all hotels booked, the ladies are forced to stay at a shitty motel where we get to see old man penis.

Basically, the remainder finds the ladies getting into all sorts of trouble from ingesting an LCD like liquid, supplied by Dina who more or less is the Zach Galifianakis character of this film to the patrons on Bourdon Street receiving not one but two golden showers, one accidental, the other… not, again, at the hands (so to speak) of Dina.

There is a good message about the value of friendship and being true to one’s self and while I don’t mind gross-out humor having seen the American Pie movies, the grossness was taken to the extreme where it was just gross and not funny. However, even beyond those scenes, I didn’t laugh a single time and didn’t really care for any of these characters, Dina especially was on the obnoxious side… and yes, I know many found Tiffany Haddish to be the breakout star. The thing is, outside of Haddish, the other actresses are talented though even they’ve been in some stinkers (Regina Hall – Scary Movie 2 & 3, Jada Pinkett Smith – The Matrix Revolutions, Queen Latifah – Mad Money) but when they’re given bad material, there aren’t many that can make it better.

Girls Trip was helmed by Malcolm D. Lee who has directed a few solid comedies like Undercover Brother and The Best Man movies, but also has the atrocious Scary Movie 5 on his resume, so I will say this was a step above that stinker.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5

This release comes with a title-embossed slip cover. Inside is a DVD Copy and redemption code for the Digital HD copy as well.

Audio Commentary – Director Malcolm D. Lee provides a light but informative track paying compliments to the cast and breaks down the story, filming locales, etc.

Deleted Scenes (10:12; HD) – There are seven scenes that failed to make the cut. An optional commentary is available with these.

Outtakes (25:17; HD) – Basically a line-o-rama as well as the cast goofing around.

Planning the Trip (10:12; HD) is a behind-the-scenes featurette with the cast and crew on-location in New Orleans.

Outrageous Moments (5:35; HD) – The filmmakers and cast talk about some of the more extreme scenes in the film.

The Essence of NOLA (5:45; HD) looks at the flavors of New Orleans.

Extended Performance (2:58; HD) of “Because of You” by Ne-Yo.

VIDEO – 4.5/5

AUDIO – 4.0/5

OVERALL – 1.5/5

Overall, I know Girls Trip received plenty of praise but I found this to be dreadfully unfunny in spite of a respectable cast, outside of Tiffany Haddish since I’m not familiar with her work. The Blu-ray release has good video and audio transfers and an okay selection of features.