'Girl Group' Review: Wilson's Pop Comedy Lacks Substance — SkimNews
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- Rebel Wilson stars as Tassie, a washed-up member of '90s girl group Gurlfriends who, after a failed solo career and alcoholism, is sentenced to community service mentoring Gen Z musicians competing to get signed
- The cast features Nicole Scherzinger, Ashley Roberts (Pussycat Dolls), Mel C (Spice Girls), and Shaznay Lewis (All Saints), with Jennifer Coolidge playing the group's manager in a role built around a laxative nutrition bar gag
- The story opens in 1997 at a London girls' school, with Wilson's character ditching her friends for a solo act that collapses, setting up a reunion tour framing device the review says Wilson might have been better off centering the film around
- Younger cast members Chabely Ponce and Lilah Pate earn the review's strongest praise for their 'easy rapport and naturalism,' which the critic says cuts against the 'run-of-the-mill story' and Wilson's 'relentless mugging'
- The review singles out only 'feeble gestures' at the generational divide over female sexuality and pop-star image, arguing Wilson either forgot the theme or found it 'too thorny to properly unpack' amid mile-a-minute bawdy humor
Why it matters: For Wilson, who built her brand on the 'fat funny girl' persona, the review frames 'Girl Group' as a second-stringer that can't match 'Pitch Perfect's' rewatch value despite a stacked guest cast; the film's choice to keep thorny questions about how famous women present themselves at arm's length leaves its generational premise, arguably its sharpest asset, underdeveloped.
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