249. Support The Girls; movie review

SUPPORT THE GIRLS
Cert 15
86 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong language, brief nudity

We had just arrived in Orlando after a pan-Atlantic flight with our two children, aged ten and seven, and my mum and dad who were in their 60s.
It had been a long, long day and we were hungry and, at 9pm, with fractious kids beyond their bedtime, we needed a quick option for a meal.
So, we alighted upon the nearest restaurant to our hotel - a place called Hooters.
As we entered, my dad's eyeballs stood out on stalks - it was clear that breast and rump weren't only on the menu.
The Hooters-style breastaurant where a meal is served by pretty young women in low-cut tops and very short shorts has not caught on in the UK but is, apparently, common in the United States.
Such a sports bar is Double Whammies - the backdrop for Andrew Bujalski's Support The Girls.
Regina Hall stars as the bar's manager who has to handle a burglar who is literally blocked in a vent, staff who want to go the extra mile to increase their tips and customers who think they are entitled to a little more flesh than is on their plate.
Oh, and there is the feckless owner (James LeGros) who is threatening her with the sack.
Support The Girls does a decent job of reflecting the day-to-day turmoils of a breastaurant.
Meanwhile, Hall convinces as a manager brow-beaten by the daily juggling act while failing to keep her home life in order.
Unfortunately, she is too nice and her boss doesn't recognise that without her chaos would reign.
Haley Lu Richardson plays one of the ambitious staff who also has a fondness for one of the older customers.
Meanwhile, Shayna McHayle is the loose cannon who at first looks like a potential manager but clearly struggles with instruction.
These are among the believable personalities which make up a movie that was rather more engaging than I had expected.

Reasons to watch: Convincing life-on-the-line comedy-drama
Reasons to avoid: No laughs, I'm afraid

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: Very brief

Overall rating: 6/10

Did you know? Hooters, the best know 'breastaurant' chain has twice beaten off challenges by men who claimed their recruitment practices discriminated towards women servers.

The final word. Andrew Bujalski: I find these places [like Double Whammies] so interesting and so weird, so uniquely American. I couldn’t imagine any other culture that would produce a demand for the product they’re selling." Slant

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