Posted: 03/18/2005

Girl Play

(2005)

by Erica Canales

Real Girls sets the stage for Girl Play. Opening in New York City on April 1, 2005, at The Quad Cinema.

Want to see what happens when to true love kicks you right in the keaster? Just watch Girl Play. Directed by acclaimed producer/director Lee Friedlander, Girl Play is the autobiographical story of actresses’ Robin Greenspan and Lacie Harmon. These two did, in fact, fall in love unexpectedly, acting in a play before actually writing the wildly successful play Real Girls. Narrating the audience from the set of a lone theatre stage and through the occasional flashback to life-altering events, Girl Play comes to life in a very unusual way. This is one of the few films that has been able to pull off people talking to the camera and the audience without seeming trite or cheesy. A bold choice to stick with the playwright format when movie-going audiences, even independent movie-going audiences are used to just being on the outside looking in.

Throughout the film we hear stories from each woman about their current state of love. Robin is engaged at the time to her girlfriend of almost six years and believed she had found the committed relationship we all seek. Lacie is a confirmed bachelorette and is convinced that she is simply not cut out for relationships. We see her flounder after her last “I love you I’m just not in love with you relationship.” With Robin we find it goes a little deeper, she flashes back to coming out to her mother, she even says to her therapist, “Can we just blame this all on my mother and get this over with?”

Enter Dom Deluise as the director of the play, as well as a little comic relief with his “assistant.” He is there to make the girls really commit to their roles and become intimate with each other so that it doesn’t just look like acting. This makes for some interesting waves in both of the characters lives. It’s through these stories that we see what brought these two women together. Robin is content to be in an unhappy relationship because it’s all she knows. Lacie is all about experiences and what you learn from your mistakes. But somehow, no matter how much they think they know about themselves, they still end up being really surprised when they finally do find themselves in love.

The writing is raw and personal. You find yourself nodding your head because you know you’ve thought or felt some of those things before. There is a lot of Hollywood and Los Angeles mentioned, and even the OC gets a nod with the mention of Christmukkah.

All in all, Girl Play is good clean fun with an interesting take on making sure we still remember that things (namely love) always come along when you’re not looking for it…and let’s face it…why fight it?

Erica Canales is a writer and critic living in Los Angeles.

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