The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat review by Bobby Blakey
There are movies that come along seemingly out of nowhere and have a way bigger impact than you expect. When I saw the trailer for The Supremes At Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat I was instantly entertained by one funny yet heavy scene and interested in seeing where this film was going. The film is based on the 2013 New York Times best-selling novel by Edward Kelsey Moore of the same name and stars Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Sanaa Lathan, Uzo Adubo, Mekhi Phifer, Julian McMahon, Vondie Curtis Hall, Russell Hornsby, Kyanna Simone, Tati Gabrielle, Abigail Achiri, Tony Winters, Dijon Means, Xavier Mills, Ryan Paynter, and Cleveland Berto from director Tina Mabry. Could this film have something important to say or is it just another buffet with too many choices?
The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat follows a trio of best friends known as “The Supremes” who, for decades, has weathered life’s storms together through marriage and children, happiness and blues. Now, as heartbreak and illness stir up the past and threaten to destroy their friendship, Odette, Barbara Jean and Clarice see their bond put to the test as they go through their most challenging times yet.
Despite my interest in the trailer, I still had no idea what kind of film I was in for since I knew nothing of the source material. Right out the gate it seemed a lot more lighthearted and a journey of friendship, but it doesn’t waste time letting you know there is going to be a lot more to it. Make no mistake this is completely a story of friendship all the way to its core, but its also about love, betrayal, loss, addiction, abuse, racism and everything else you can possibly think of. With this much to it, you might think it gets bogged down and lost, but it is quite the opposite.
The film tells the story of these three friends following in both their younger and older years. It bounces back and forth as the story needs to tell this story and is
balanced well enough for it to work and never take away the impact of what they are trying to say. These kinds of films tend to focus on one primary character and let the others just have small stories to fill in the history, but here they are all front and center throughout. Of course, there is one that the focus tends to lean through at times, but it is well balanced to let you get invested in them all.
All three of the Supremes are played to perfection by Uzo Aduba, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Sanaa Lathan. They all bring so much love, laughter and depth to these roles that you can’t help but love them all. They are all flawed, but strong female characters that lift each other up while having their own trials with each other. Each of them brought something different to the table but balanced each other out perfectly with flawless performances across the board.
The film delves into some heavy topics, but each one is not only still relevant despite the period here and sadly some we still deal with to this day. The story structure allows them to tell a straight linear story while keeping some things a little secret until the final act that you might not even know you were waiting on. I would be interested to hear how close this is to the book as it is a powerful story that I didn’t even know I was diving into. Despite its heft there are still plenty of laughs to be had along with the heartache. There is a funny bonus sequence in the credits that harkens back to a random earlier moment that was funny and the perfect cap to it all.
Decide for yourself and check out The Supremes At Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat streaming now on Hulu.