Support The Girls

Support The Girls came on my radar when Regina Hall won Best Actress from the New York Critics Film Circle a couple of years ago. I was totally unaware that it was written and directed by Andrew Bujalski, whose films I have admired, and is most often associated with the "mumblecore" style. Support The Girls is most decidedly not mumblecore.

It is set in a Hooters-style restaurant. Hall is the general manager, and most of the film takes place in one event-filled day: a would-be burglar is caught in a heating vent, a car wash fundraiser is held for one of the waitresses who needs legal representation after running over her abusive boyfriend with a car, Hall's depressed husband leaves her, and she gets fired by her scuzzy owner. On top of that, the cable is out.

These restaurants, which I see are also referred to as "breastaurants," are an interesting American phenomenon. They are like strip clubs lite, as the girls show a lot but not everything, and the atmosphere is family friendly. It makes for an interesting subject, as Bujalski (I wonder if he did research) treats the employees as a sisterhood, with Hall as the mother hen.

But while the movie is well regarded, I found it lacking. The script feels like a rough draft, with rough transitions and clunky dialogue, and I just didn't buy all this stuff happening in one day. The acting is also very uneven. Hall won an award, but I found her "smile when your heart is breaking" reaction to things inauthentic. Haley Lu Richardson, as an eternally optimistic waitress, is good, but Shayna McHale, who is better known as the rapper Junglepussy, is amateurish.

I think there's a good movie somewhere in there, but as a finished product Support The Girls just didn't do it for me. As a fan of Bujalski, I was disappointed.