Based on the 2013 bestselling novel by Edward Kelsey Moore (adapted by Cee Marcellus, which is actually a pseudonym for Gina Prince-Bythewood, with revisions by director Tina Mabry), The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat follows the lives of three best friends growing up in Plainview, Indiana, from the late 1960s to the early 2010s. There is no single storyline that guides us through the events. Instead, things just jump back and forth between the three women and between the two time periods that frame the film.
Uzo Aduba and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor play Clarice and Odette, who are lifelong friends. Reclusive Barbara Jean (Sanaa Lathan plays her as an adult) is something of an outsider in high school, but thanks to diner owner Big Earl (Tony Winters) and his wife, she manages to escape an abusive home life and live with Earl’s family while becoming better friends with the other two girls (Tati Gabrielle plays young Barbara Jean, while Abigail Achiri and Kyanna Simone play teenagers Clarice and Odette). Once the relationships are established, the film takes us through a series of ups and downs that all three women must endure, from unwanted pregnancies, love affairs, heartbreak, illness, deaths in the family, to events that test the friendship at the center of the film.
Director Mabry (a Queen Sugar The producer, writer and television director (making her second feature film) does an admirable job of juggling multiple storylines and two timelines to turn an epic soap opera into a cinematic celebration of bonds of friendship, relationships stronger than blood and challenges that most viewers can probably relate to. Nothing particularly shocking happens, but the chemistry between the three leads is highly convincing and always entertaining. Mekhi Phifer, Vondie Curtis-Hall and Russell Hornsby play the husbands of the three women, each of whom is dealing with their own problems, while Julian McMahon plays one of the few white characters in the film, Ray, who as a young man had a serious (and ultimately doomed) crush on Barbara Jean (and vice versa).
The film captures the times and places that serve as the backdrop for this friendship and these events, and while it often feels a bit too generically Midwestern, the film manages to find its center in these three friends. With such a large cast and two time periods to contend with, The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat can sometimes feel like it’s spread too thin to do justice to every main character, but for the most part it serves its purpose and almost all of the characters (especially the women) seem like they exist in three dimensions rather than as a collection of cliches. It’s a beautiful film, full of color, texture, light, and vibrant performances that almost dare you not to love these characters. It may not always be deep, but it’s rich and celebratory, even in its darkest moments.
The film is now streaming exclusively on Hulu.
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