The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat 8/10
Spoilers!!! This was a really good movie. L brought this up after Hulu sent an email with their new and upcoming things. Now, I take a lot of titles literal so when I first even heard about this I thought it could have been based off of a true story of when the singing group The Supremes went to some random diner back in the day and performed for people that were there. This was not about that at all. This is about three women and their lives from teens to adults and all the drama and joy that they go through. And there is so much drama!
The main characters are Odette. She was born to have no fear after her mother climb up in a tree and gave birth to her. Do not think of the logistics of this. She is tough and will stick up for all her friends. People know she is not afraid to say what she is thinking. She is studying to become a nurse. Clarice wants to play piano and perform. Barbara Jean is the source of most of the drama. She was born on stage as her mother was a dancer in a club and there were multiple men who could be the father. One day Odette and Clarice head to Barbara Jean's house to bring some food after the death of her mother and her stepfather is a super creep. You know some horrible shit is happening behind closed doors. This man refuses to let Barbara Jean leave so Odette decides to box him after he threatens her with a belt. He backs down. I would have too. Don't need to get pieced up by some teenager in her underclothes. Barbara Jean is taken in by Big Earl and his crazy ass wife Minnie.
This movie jumps back and forth through time so I can't really write this in a linear way. As adults Odette is married to this guy James that she met when they were younger. Clarice is married to horndog for decades Richmond. Everyone knows that he is cheating on her and she even finds some lipstick on his draws. Barbara Jean is a hot ass mess. She got pregnant by this white kid named Ray that was working at Earl's. She didn't tell him she was pregnant (because mixed babies were not the jump off at the time) and she was also dating this guy Lester who is a little older. She breaks things off with Ray and sticks with Lester. At Earl's funeral years later Lester offers to fix a light bulb and ends up getting electrocuted and dies. Barbara Jean starts drinking even more. Oh, and Odette has cancer. Like, come on with the tragedy!
Odette hides her cancer from everyone including her husband until she finally breaks down and tells him. She tells her friends finally as well. They all go to confront the girl that is sleeping with Richmond and Clarice leaves him. Ray shows up and meets with Odette but Barbara Jean doesn't know. We find out that Barbara Jean let Ray know that she can not run away with him because of their skin colors. She tells Lester she is pregnant with Ray's kid but he don't care and wants to marry her. Her son is run over and killed by Ray's brother because his thing was chasing Black people with his truck. She tells Ray that the boy was his and asks him to kill his brother. Ray goes to see him and he is shown dead leading us to believe that Ray did it but we later discover that his brothers girlfriend did it already.
Okay. As I am writing this I am leaving some stuff out and trying to recall everything that happened because as of right now there aren't even many sources to find images from this movie yet and synopsis available. My brain is recalling random things that happened and trying to piece them together. I will say I enjoyed the acting in this as well as the music and the way it was shot. The young versions of people matches well with the older versions except for Lester (who older we thought was Barbara Jean's father or something) and the young Barbara Jean who to me not only didn't look like the older version but the acting seemed kind of off in some way. Like she was in a different movie. Still, I liked this and would recommend it without commercials. Them Hulu ads be messing with the flow of stuff. There are some actual laugh out loud moments in this and unlike most movies showing friendships these ladies don't act like enemies in disguise as friends. It also makes you think of your parents and how if there are things you don't like about them and try to not be that way and end up turning into them in some ways.
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Odette
Kyanna Simone as Young Odette
Sanaa Lathan as Barbara Jean
Tati Gabrielle as Young Barbara Jean
Uzo Aduba as Clarice
Abigail Achiri as Young Clarice
Mekhi Phifer as James Henry
Dijon Means as Young James
Julian McMahon as Ray
Ryan Paynter as Young Ray
Vondie Curtis-Hall as Lester
Cleveland Berto as Young Lester
Russell Hornsby as Richmond
Xavier Mills as Young Richmond
Donna Biscoe as Minnie
Tony Winters as Big Earl
Jason Turner as Lil' Earl
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