The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat Parent Guide

Odette (Kyanna Simone) is a self-described “bold woman with a big mouth”. Clarice (Abigail Achiri) is a gifted pianist with a strong desire to have her own family and live a respectable life. And Barbara Jean (Tati Gabrielle) survived a childhood with an alcoholic mother and brutal stepfather. Whenever they can, the three teens love to hang out at the local diner, Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat, and flirt with the local guys.

Earl (Tony Winter) is more than just a restaurateur. He’s a social watchdog, keeping an eye on the kids who frequent his diner. Earl and his wife open their home to Barbara Jean so she can be free from her stepfather. And he lets Ray (Ryan Paynter), an abused white teenage boy, sleep in his stockroom and bus tables so he can get away from his drunken, racist brother. Earl’s also the one who proposes the girls’ nickname: The Supremes.

As they mature from adolescence into midlife, Odette, Clarice, and Barbara Jean (now played by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Uzo Aduba, and Sanaa Lathan) endure hardship, loss, betrayal, and tragedy, but they never lose their ties to each other. The bonds may strain, but the women always return to their booth at Earl’s.

The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat falls neatly into the genre of women’s friendship flicks. It’s more than a little bit soapy, occasionally over-the-top, and always focused on grabbing your heartstrings. Sometimes it succeeds and you feel a tear in your eye; sometimes the over-the-top factor gets in the way.

What also gets in the way is the movie’s negative content. There are over four dozen profanities in the script, which is more than the film needs. There are also non-explicit sex scenes, repeated plot points involving adultery or illegitimacy, and a subplot regarding alcoholism. None of the material is graphic, but the film is accurately rated at PG-13.

Director Tina Mabry hits a home run with the cast for this production. All the women playing the Supremes – in 1968 and 1999 - give outstanding performances and their emotional realities ring true. The script sometimes glitches, and it was clear to me early on that this movie is a literary adaptation. In fact, it’s drawn from Edward Kelsey Moore’s debut novel of the same name. Sometimes the script feels rushed and sometimes it seems that material has been shoehorned in because it’s a favorite scene. That said, there are plenty of laughs in this movie, and some zany moments to compensate for the soap opera plot elements that threaten to capsize the story.

Where this film shines is in its depiction of female friendship. Any woman lucky enough to find a friend who feels like a second self or long lost sister will understand Odette’s words, “Without each other, maybe we could have believed what the world told us about ourselves – broken pieces, hot messes, bad omens.” A friend who reflects back a brighter picture of your potential and has your back as your struggle to fulfil it is definitely a supreme gift.