Girls Will Be Girls (2002)

58% of critics liked it
(31 reviews)
70% of users liked it
(6,224 ratings)

The confessional, behind-the-scenes showbiz melodrama goes under the knife -- so to speak -- in this drag comedy. Girls Will Be Girls casts three male performers in the roles of Evie Harris (Jack Plotnick), a has-been starlet of the '70s who has since gone to seed in her decaying Hollywood home; her… More The confessional, behind-the-scenes showbiz melodrama goes under the knife -- so to speak -- in this drag comedy. Girls Will Be Girls casts three male performers in the roles of Evie Harris (Jack Plotnick), a has-been starlet of the '70s who has since gone to seed in her decaying Hollywood home; her best friend and domestic servant, Coco (Clinton Leupp); and Varla (Jeffrey Roberson), the daughter of a deceased peer/rival of Evie's who shows up to rent out a room in her home. The tension among the trio of women escalates as Evie prepares for a pull-out-all-the-stops television special commemorating her past career glories, which include sundry disaster movies and TV variety shows. What Evie doesn't know is that the naïve-seeming Varla has a debt to settle for her deceased mom, and will stop at nothing to seek vengeance. All three lead actors developed their characters in stage shows and cabaret acts; writer/director Richard Day wrote for such television shows as Ellen and The Larry Sanders Show before helming this film, his debut. After its 2003 Sundance premiere, Girls Will Be Girls was acquired by IFC Films for a theatrical release. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 22 min.
Directed By: Richard Day
Written By: Richard Day
Genres: Drama, Romance, Gay & Lesbian, Comedy

In Theaters: Jan 17, 2003 Wide
On DVD: Mar 16, 2004
Studio: IFC Films

Critic Reviews

John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press
An often hilarious, always surprising 79-minute burlesque.
Robert K. Elder, Chicago Tribune
While Day doesn't succeed in making us empathize with anyone on screen, he makes his characters definitely watchable and his dialogue crackles.
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
An unprecedented exercise in derangement.
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
Humor that takes as its apparent premise the assumption that all women are catty, sexually voracious, weight-obsessed whores ... is more than anyone in this day and age, even in the context of a cartoonish farce, should be expected to take.
Charles Ealy, Dallas Morning News
Girls Will Be Girls is gross-out camp, much like the movies of John Waters.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
In just observing and accurately reproducing women's facial expressions and physical gestures, the men create a wonderfully absurd spectacle.
Bill Gibron, DVDTalk.com
This is Drucilla, Drama Queen of the Desert as re-imagined by Paul Rudnick and performed by Harvey Fierstein.
Ed Gonzalez, City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Girls Will Be Girls is every bit as dull and offensive as it is frequently hysterical.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
The laughs in Girls Will Be Girls are cheap laughs, but when you assemble this many of them in one place, they're worth a lot.
Anita Schmaltz, Metro Times (Detroit, MI)
...an explosion of bad taste swallowed, and occasionally spit back out, over and over again, culminating in fashionable she/he cat fights by the pool.
Kim Morgan, Oregonian
A relentlessly mean picture that will tickle those tired of sweet comedies whether in drag or plainclothes.
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone, TheMovieChicks.com
Vile characters plus a bad script doesn't add up to girls just having fun - it's more like you've been drugged and raped without the fun part.
David Elliott, San Diego Union-Tribune
Crass and dumb.
John Hartl, Seattle Times
There are more belly laughs here than belly flops.