By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1.5 cats
Director: Richard Day
Starring: Clinton Leupp | Dana Gould | Eric Stonestreet | Hamilton von Watts | Jeffery Roberson | Plotnick | Ron Mathews
Country: united_states
Year: 2003
Running time: 79
IMDB: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0339071/combined
Michael says: “GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS tells the tale of three Hollywood actresses, all at different stages of their careers. There’s
the drunken shrew, Evie, a bitter, ruthless, pill-popping, aging actress who had one memorable role in a Hollywood blockbuster, before disappearing into obscurity due to a related scandal. There’s Coco, whose ambitions were dashed early on leading to a position as Evie’s live-in maid. Finally, there’s Varla, daughter of a deceased, well-known actress, she hopes to make it in Hollywood any way she can. The twist? All the women in this film are played by men in drag. Yes, it’s trying to be part ALL ABOUT EVE, part Charles Busch (or rather Ryan Landry – if you’re aware of him) production. Oh, and did I mention? It’s bad… really bad.
“Part over-the-top comedy, part sudsy melodrama, and all offensive, GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS lacks the knowing wink, the tip of the head to the audience, that the best camp classics possess. By trying to play it straight, while at the same time going screamingly overboard, most of the humor just falls flat. And the tasteless abortion and rape jokes, digitally-altered, nude men and women, and more, just didn’t quite translate to the humor that was hoped for.
“Now, while I would hardly recommend this film to anyone, it did have its hilarious moments, and a couple of the performances were actually pretty good, but they are few and far between. I suspect this film told as a live stage act would fare better. Fans of television’s sitcom, ‘Ellen,’ will be interested to note that Jack Plotnick (who played Barret on TV) played shrewish diva Evie here, and executive produced the film as well. What could he have been thinking?” 1 1/2 cats