Girls Night Out

Leaving behind the mundane grind of their jobs in a factory, a group of working class women head out for a girls night out of drinking, shrieking, laughing and female entertainment – specifically a club where a male stripper is performing. Although this short animation won awards and was promoted as being hilarious, I failed to see the hype pay off into delivery. The basic plot sees a bunch of terribly "council estate" women going to a club where they drink and scream just like the terrible trollops you see in the bingo at times – it is amusing but it is never "hilarious" and it certainly never gets any depth to it.

The animation is as broad and bawdy as the characters themselves but it mostly works and does show a real match with the material. I wasn't too taken by it myself but then I suspect that that was more to do with my dislike for the subjects. Overall this is amusing and noisy and I suppose does capture a type of person pretty well but I didn't see the value in it past this – it had no real laughs and didn't have any insight into the characters that it gets right on the nose.

In addition to the loud and piercing soundtrack, the story of some women going nuts at a club isn't all that much fun to watch. The women are made to look terribly unattractive and boorish. There isn't a bit of subtlety or polish to the story. I suppose the one person focused on gets some kind of trophy, but......

This is NOT a particularly subtle film and when it first begins your senses are assaulted with very, very loud and boisterous singing. In fact, everything about this film seems very, very loud--the art style, the story and the ladies who constantly blather like they are drunk frat boys! In fact, through much of the story, there isn't any real dialog--just loud riotous noise.

As for the story, it might have been able to overcome the brashness of the art if it had been a very strong narrative. However, there just isn't much story---it's just a middle aged lady going out with her obnoxious co-workers to yell and hoot at a male stripper. None of this seemed all that entertaining. Watching the film was like going to a fancy dinner where they forget to give you the entrée. You are just kept waiting and waiting for more.

If you try "Dreams and Desires: Family Ties" (also by the same director), you'll probably leave more satisfied. This amusing cartoon will probably make you laugh and shows that her talents have matured over time.