Review: Support The Girls

Image courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

I've long had mixed feelings about the films of Andrew Bujalski, an original member of the Mumblecore movement whose movies - which include "Funny Ha Ha," "Mutual Appreciation," "Results" and "Computer Chess" - often do a decent job of capturing specific milieus, but are often slight in various other departments, from characterization to aesthetics.

His latest, "Support the Girls," is probably his best film to date, and while it still suffers slightly due to his trademark style that often comes across as too laid back, it also features some strong performances - most notably, Regina Hall - and offers a significant amount of empathy for working class women, in this case, the waitresses and staff of a self-proclaimed "sports bar with curves."

The film's setting - a bar known as the Double Whammie - is a Hooters knock-off, where its slim and attractive young waitresses - I point out these attributes because the bar's male owners ensure that all of their employees fit this particular model - bond under the leadership of Lisa (Hall), a beleaguered manager who, during the course of the picture, is in the midst of her last day on the job.

The day kicks off with an almost surreal sequence in which Lisa opens the joint to find that a man, who had intentions of robbing the place, is stuck overnight in the overhead ventilation shaft. As the day progresses, Lisa must deal with a new batch of job applicants - some of whom clearly won't obey her cardinal rule of "no drama" - and host a car wash of which her boss, Cubby (James Le Gros), clearly doesn't approve.

Meanwhile, Lisa's two main girls - Maci (Haley Lu Richardson) and Danyelle (Shayne McHayle) - attempt to hold the place down, despite unseemly passes by rowdy customers, drunken patrons and an insulting biker. The place is of the type where longtime customers tend to drink the day away, and some of the more colorful ones - for instance, Bobo (Lea DeLaria), a lesbian who sticks up for the waitresses, and a few cops - are just as instrumental to the film's atmosphere as the Double Whammie's staff.

Ultimately, "Support the Girls" is fairly light on story and characterization. For instance, Lisa appears to be going through much more than losing her job, such as a squabble with an ex-employee who she was trying to help and that woman's jerk of a boyfriend as well as some personal family issues. However, the film only gives us a glimpse of Lisa's problems outside of work, and doesn't adequately explain why she is at her wit's end. And yet, Hall nails the role, despite some shortcomings in the writing department.

So, "Coyote Ugly" this is not. The Double Whammie is the type of place that was created - by its male owners, naturally - as a place to objectify women. But Lisa's almost motherly care for her employees and her "zero tolerance" policy for funny business by the bar's male patrons shows where the filmmakers' sympathies lie. And there's a funny - and cheer inducing bit - near the film's end when a group of men come to the bar to watch a fight on one of its big screen TVs, and the waitresses get their revenge. "Support the Girls" is often charming and mostly works - and when it does, it's primarily due to the solid performances by Hall and the rest of the film's cast.