‘Support the Girls’ review — Regina Hall is a powerhouse

Support the Girls is a charming and emotional day-in-the-life dramedy with another magnificent performance by Regina Hall.

Regina Hall is one of the best and most underrated actresses working today. From her perfectly timed one-liners in Scary Movie to her grounded and emotional performance at the core of Girls Trip she has been consistently great in so many projects. It's time Hollywood took notice. And if there's ever been a movie for them to look to, it's her latest performance in Support the Girls.

Hall plays Lisa, the manager of a Hooters-like bar and restaurant called Double Whammies where twentysomething waitresses wearing crop tops and Daisy Dukes serve beer and wings to less than subtle men. When we meet her, she's in the middle of a crying spell in the parking lot before the lunchtime rush. There's no context for why as we watch her try to get herself under control. It's a perfect scene to display Hall's talents as she somehow imbues some subtlety into the least subtle human emotional response. Eventually, one of the waitresses Maci (Haley Lu Richardson in yet another great performance after last year's Columbus and Split) interrupts her and walks her into the restaurant. No questions asked. 

It's that kind of quiet realism that defines Support the Girls and most of the director and screenwriter Andrew Bujalski's career. Noted as the “Godfather of Mumblecore”—a subgenre of indie film that focuses on naturalistic dialogue and performances over plot—Bujalski brings an incredibly specific style to seemingly mundane storylines. It's what made Jim Jarmusch's Paterson so compelling.

We follow Lisa through her day as she troubleshoots the ever-growing list of problems she faces as the general manager of Double Whammies—a would-be robber stuck in the air vents, a waitress who gets a curious tattoo, an off-the-books car wash fundraiser, a misogynist owner (James LeGros) breathing down her neck, and on top of that the cable is out just when there is going to be a big boxing match. However, Lisa tackles each one with a smile and still has time to make sure every single waitress that works there feels safe.

However, there's not much more to the plot than that. Along the way we meet a cast of characters that all bring different kinds of humor and charm to the movie. There's Lisa's right-hand woman Danyelle (Shayna McHayle giving a great debut performance) who delivers sharp one-liners and observations, butch lesbian regular Bobo (Lea Delaria) whose sharp respect for the girls sometimes gets her in trouble, and ditzy new hire Jennelle (Dylan Gelula) whose character could be summed up when she says, “I'm like a marketing major.”

Admittedly, I didn't understand Support the Girls for much of the running time. It feels like scene after scene of nothing happening. However, the remarkable final 20 minutes pull the entire movie together. It was all on the screen. I was just looking in the wrong place. The movie lies in the faces of each of the characters, every one of whom carries the baggage of their days and lives with them. That's why Regina Hall is so incredible in the lead role. From the first frame where we watch her crying in a car facing the day to the last as she closes one out, we know exactly what she is feeling.

Support the Girls is—as deservedly corny as it sounds—about the power of sisterhood and the work that women put in every day to just survive. However, unlike other female empowerment movies, everything doesn't work out for all of our characters. It's just reality. As one character notes, you cry until you laugh and you laugh until you scream. If Support the Girls wants you to walk away with one thing it's that it's okay to do all those things. Life is frustrating. Just take it one day at a time.

Support the Girls is available to buy or rent on Amazon!