| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In his feature-film debut, writer/director Richard Day tells a dramatic morality tale of ambition and revenge in contemporary Hollywood. Along the way, he addresses other serious issues: alcohol and substance abuse, rape and prostitution, abortion and family commitment, sexual and medical ethics. But the twist is, the three lead characters — actress roommates Evie, Coco, and Varla — are actually men in drag (Jack Plotnick, Clinton Leupp, and Jeffery Roberson). Evie is an alcoholic has-been yearning for her younger days; Coco fantasizes about reuniting with her long-lost doctor to have a child; fresh-faced Varla pursues a country girl’s dream of Hollywood stardom. Hobbled by Day’s far-fetched dialogue, the three actors’ amusing and skillful drag performances beg an alternate, less ironic title like Queens Will Be Queens (they may aspire to be Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie, but we’re never completely fooled). With its melodramatic, cliché-ridden story, the wince-inducing sexual overtones, and the amateurish production and editing, Girls Will Be Girls falls somewhere between daytime soap opera and cheesy porn flick — neatly sealed with a classic Hollywood ending.
BY VAL MAASS
|
