G.B.F (or Gay Best Friend as it stands for) was hailed – by it’s own promoters no doubt – as a gay take on Mean Girls. (Or should that be ‘Gurls’, “with a ‘u'” as Mrs. Van Camp states). To be fair, the comparison that should have been made is, ‘a gay take on Mean Girls, but with worse actors and better shoes’. But once such a comparison has been made, it seems the film will never really be judged on its own standards, but rather constantly paralleled to the high ones of the original high school romp.
If you’re going to attempt to nod to an absolute classic it’s hard to do on a smaller budget. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a number of familiar faces; Andrea Bowen (Desperate Housewives), Xosha Roquemore (The Mindy Project), Natasha Lyonne (American Pie), and Rebecca Gayheart (Jawbreaker) and of course Megan Mullally (Will & Grace), but the film doesn’t have as strong a plot, and it feels like the two main gay characters lack the level of acting experience needed to make them likeable; Tanner (Michael J Willett) feels awkward while Brent is over-acted.
Megan Mullally shines as Mrs. Van Camp – and in fact shits all over Regina’s mum. There are some hilarious one-liners, which as the sassy black girl, are mostly given to Caprice – those of you familiar with her acting as Tamra will already know she’s on point with her delivery. While the film is light and fluffy, it will touch certain notes with gay audience members on the awkwardness of ‘coming out’ and having a best friendship that nothing will break. Overall it’s an enjoyable watch, and partially fills the void those have from re-watching Mean Girls over and over, but it’s not one you’ll be quoting for years to come.
Also, the fashion is so try hard it completely misses the mark.
Rating: 3/5
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Other posts you might like:
>> If The Mean Girls Were Gay
>> The Manifestation of a Mean Girl
>> Great Wall of Grindr: Mean Gays