The Supremes at Earl’s Al You Can Eat 2024
Sinopsis
Three lifelong best friends known as “The Supremes” share the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood from decades of weathering life’s storms. Through the joys and sorrows of life, marriage and children, happiness and blues, love and loss, new shades of heartbreak and illness threaten to stir up the past when the trio sees their bond put to the test as they face their most challenging times yet.
cast
- Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Odette
- Kyanna Simone as Young Odette
- Zayana Willow Dukes as Baby Odette
- Sanaa Lathan as Barbara Jean
- Tati Gabrielle as Young Barbara Jean
- Uzo Aduba as Clarice
- Abigail Achiri as Young Clarice
- Mekhi Phifer as James Henry
- Dijon Means as Young James
- Julian McMahon as Ray “Chick” Carlson
- Ryan Paynter as Young Ray
- Vondie Curtis-Hall as Lester
- Cleveland Berto as Young Lester
- Russell Hornsby as Richmond
- Xavier Mills as Young Richmond
- Donna Biscoe as Minnie
- Tony Winters as Big Earl
- Jason Turner as Lil’ Earl
Review
In The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat, three best friends lock arms for life, hoisting each other up as they are dealt one tough hand after another. The women – played by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Uzo Aduba and Sanaa Lathan in their later years – keep their heads up through crushed dreams, manipulative romances, domestic abuse, addiction, violent hate crimes, the devastating loss of a child and a cancer diagnosis. There’s a lot of trauma to unpack. But that’s not really what The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat is out to do.
The movie, adapted from Edward Kelsey Moore’s bestselling novel and directed by Tina Mabry, stays buoyant and lighthearted, with intention. Hollywood only tends to tell Black stories when they can dwell on misfortune. This dramedy, instead, chooses joy and laughter, even when, given the circumstances of its storytelling, such levity can come off as forced. It’s an admirable attempt to fill a vacuum, but we can feel the effort, and the pursuit of a mission statement, over any emotional truth.
At this point, you probably gathered that Ellis-Taylor, Aduba and Lathan are not playing the R&B group famous for belting out Stop! In the Name of Love. Their characters Odette, Clarice and Barbara Jean, respectively, are just dubbed “the Supremes” due to a passing resemblance to the singers led by Diana Ross.
