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SUPPORT THE GIRLS
Director: Andrew Bujalski Cast: Regina Hall, Haley Lu Richardson, Dylan Gelula, James Le Gros, AJ Michalka, Shayna McHayle, Lea DeLaria, Jana Kramer, Brooklyn Decker MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:33 Release Date: 8/24/18 |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | December 4, 2018 Lisa (Regina Hall) gets it. She's a manager at a frontage-road restaurant that promises "boobs, brews, and big-screen TVs," where all of the waitresses are young and pretty and wear short shorts and tiny shirts. In her job, she puts two things above all else: the wait staff and the customers. At some point in Support the Girls, we start to think that Lisa only includes the customers in her ranking because, if the customers are happy, there's less chance that they'll cause a problem for her employees. The film, written and directed by Andrew Bujalski, is entirely about Lisa. Even when she isn't on screen, the story is about how her absence affects these characters. She's a big presence here, and the refreshing thing about the film is how ordinary she and the entire scheme of this story are. Lisa is the best boss a person could wish for—a kind, understanding woman who tells it like it is, whether or not the person receiving the words wants to hear them. It's probably better to listen to her, though. There's no plot of which to speak, except that it follows Lisa and her employees on a seemingly ordinary day at the restaurant. Someone tried to break in to rob the safe and is trapped in the air ducts. One waitress is having problems after hitting her ex-boyfriend with a car, so Lisa sets up a car wash to raise money for her legal funds. There are potential new employees to train, and Maci (Haley Lu Richardson), the restaurant's star bundle of optimism, appears to be getting a little too close to one of the regulars. Meanwhile, Lisa is having her own problems with a boss (played by James Le Gros) who doesn't like her management style and a husband (played by Lawrence Varnado) who's depressed and looking to get out of their marriage. Everything is making Lisa re-evaluate what she's doing with her life. Even with her career and her personal life falling apart, Lisa's reflex is to be a boss, a friend, and a surrogate mother to her "girls." Hall's performance holds together the film's slice-of-life observations. It's a marvel of bare kindness and generosity but also, on the flip side, of loneliness and vulnerability. Through Hall's work, Support the Girls becomes a study of customary compassion and the everyday sacrifice that's the toll. Copyright © 2018 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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(for
language including sexual references, and brief nudity)
