You’ll want to pass the ketchup, and the hankies, for this buffet of tear-jerking deep-fried decadence.
“The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat” is a melodrama sampler platter of adultery, alcoholism, cancer, teen pregnancy, derailed careers, heckled memorial services and accidental electrocution, plus a phony psychic, a heartbroken ornithologist and a double helping of murder. This wisecracking, tear-jerking, deep-fried decadence is plenty satisfying if you’re in the mood to indulge.
Directed by Tina Mabry and set between 1950 and 1999, it’s the rousing saga of three friends. Clarice (Uzo Aduba) is the image-conscious pushover; Barbara Jean, (Sanaa Lathan) the fragile beauty; and Odette (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) the bigmouth who narrates the film and ignites most of the confrontations. As girls, they’re played by Abigail Achiri, Tati Gabrielle and Kyanna Simone, who do a fine job establishing the tone. In a movie crowded with faces (including Mekhi Phifer, Russell Hornsby and Vondie Curtis-Hall) and more plot twists than a plate of curly fries, Simone and Ellis-Taylor make a feast of the flashiest role. Young Odette impulsively strips off her dress to throw a punch at a slimeball. Later, when her adult incarnation announces she’s going to finally speak her mind, both the audience and her fellow characters are agape. What else has she been doing for two hours?
The script, adapted by Mabry and Cee Marcellus from Edward Kelsey Moore’s novel of the same name, takes a few liberties, tweaking the titular hangout into a retro-chic diner, blurring the location to Anytown, America and scrapping a cameo from Eleanor Roosevelt’s ghost. No one seems to believe this is Michelin star cuisine — the score is clatteringly whimsical, the scene transitions teeter toward the absurd — but it’s a treat to watch these believable pals hoist each other back up, taking the occasional breather to clink milkshakes in slow motion.
The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat
Rated PG-13 for adult themes, as well as strong language including racial slurs. Running time: 2 hours 4 minutes. Watch on Hulu.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
