Tiffany Haddish, 37, has been consistently chipping away at Hollywood for the past 12 years to arrive at this moment. She’s appeared in everything from “That’s So Raven” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” to, most recently, the critically-acclaimed “The Carmichael Show.” But they’re all stepping stones to this very day. Haddish is the undeniable breakout star on the just-released Girls Trip. By Monday, she is guaranteed to be a household name.
Haddish, a native of Los Angeles, stars as the uber-irreverent but loving and loyal Dina, the most ride-or-die in a group of four friends called “The Flossy Posse.” Regina Hall, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Queen Latifah are her onscreen compatriots. Latifah stars as Sasha Franklin, a respected journalist whose career takes a drastic change when she starts a gossip website. Pinkett-Smith is divorcee Lisa Cooper, an educated but wild party girl who grew mild-mannered over the years as she started a family. Meanwhile, Regina Hall plays Ryan Pierce who seemingly has it all. She’s rich, famous, has a hunk husband played by “Luke Cage’s” Michael Colter and is on the brink of closing a business deal that will have her financially set for life.
Over the years, the four friends who met in college grew apart. They haven’t seen each other in five years, but when Pierce gets an invite to be a keynote speaker at the Essence Festival in New Orleans, she decides to invite her homies and all hell breaks loose. Girls Trip is absolute hall-of-fame hilarity status and the audience will fall in love with the characters as they romp through New Orleans relying on one another to lift each other up—there’s a dance battle scene that will harken back to _House Party—have their sisterhood tested.
There are no punches pulled as the comedy made sure it earned its rated R status (full-frontal nudity) and everyone will be talking about “grapefruits” after seeing Girls Trip. The film was produced by Will Packer (Ride Along, Think Like a Man) and shot by director Malcolm D. Lee (The Best Man, Roll Bounce) last year during the 2016 Essence Festival.
“Success, happiness, joy!” Haddish said earlier this month at this year’s Essence Fest. She and her castmates had just hosted a screening of the film on Canal Street in NOLA. “People walking up out of here feeling happy and fantastic. Why? Because they’re seeing what real women do when they go on a girls’ trip.”
“Fire, fire, fire!” Tank described of the movie. He couldn’t keep from laughing. “I mean, I’m not giving out any scenes, any details. Ladies, if you got real crew, some real down girls that rock with you, get your girls together and go see this movie. I enjoyed it as a man and it’s called Girls Trip. I was like, ‘A man is not gonna enjoy this. It’s called ‘Girls Trip.’ I had a ball. It made you think what friendship is really about and what loyalty really means. It all comes full circle. It’s a beautiful movie.”
“Oh my God! It was the perfect girl, chick flick movie,” veteran mogul Mona Scott-Young gushed. “It was incredibly written, it was well-acted. I’m a hard one to make laugh. When I tell you I was practically peeing on myself…It was hysterical.”
Jude Demorest who plays Star Davis in the FOX series “Star” called Girls Trip the funniest movie she’s seen in ten years. “I’m gonna have tear tracks in my makeup. It made me want to go out tonight,” she said.
Before Haddish left the screening, she was greeted with an embrace by her movie costar Kofi Sirobe who plays a too well-endowed loved interest of Pinkett-Smith’s character.
“I didn’t want to make babies today,” Haddish told him. “But maybe in two weeks ’cause that’s when I’ll be ovulating. Holla!”
Girls Trip also features appearances by Diddy, Mike Epps, Ne-Yo, Common, Mariah Carey, New Edition, and Larenz Tate.