Girl Play (2004)

"Winning comedy!  Hollywood Reporter
"Funny, smart, sexy  Ken Fox, TV Guide.Com
"Loved it! It's clever and original.  Nancy Rosenblum, Lesbian News Magazine

Editor's Note The successful stage play REAL GIRLS, created and performed by real-life lovers Robin Greenspan and Lacie Harmon, is here adapted for the silver screen by Lee Friedlander (WASABI TUNA). Greenspan and Harmon play themselves--stand-up comics who have known each other for some time but never shared an attraction. Robin is in a committed relationship of six years, while Lacie is committed to nothing except her freedom. All this changes when the women are cast in a lesbian play, whose director, Gabriel, (Dom Delouise in a camp-fueled turn), encourages them to develop their intimacy to achieve greater depth of character in their performances. But the more time the women spend together, the more sparks fly, leading each to question their own perceptions of themselves. Meanwhile, Lacie struggles to come out to her mother, an overbearing matchmaker (Joh Waters staple Mink Stole), and Robin must deal with the jealousy of her control-freak lover. Funny and poignant, this retelling of the true story of how its stars met and fell in love is as heartwarming as it is important, filling a gap in lesbian films while addressing the larger questions of modern love.

	Dom Deluise
	Lacie Harmon
	Mink Stole
	Robin Greenspan
	Christian White - Editor
	Dahl Delu - Production Designer
	Gina G. Goff, et. al. - Producer
	Laura Karpman - Original Music By
	Lee Friedlander - Director
	Lee Friedlander, et. al. - Writer
	Michael Negrin - Cinematographer
	Sean McVity - Executive Producer

The New York Times 6 of 10
One step forward would be a more liberated, full-throated depiction of lesbians in film and television, which in Girl Play, and over all, seems far too soft, too kittenish, too Californian. If film and television producers want to take more risks in their depiction of lesbian life, they should skip the caution and go directly to the caustic musings of Marga Gomez and other lesbian comics in New York, who transmit the frenzy and outrage that Girl Play lacks. - Ned Martel

The Onion AV Club 6 of 10
Much of Girl Play is bracingly honest, in that it's rare to see a lesbian love story that's so open about the way women meet and fall in love. But in the process of becoming characters, the writer-stars have diminished themselves. Aside from Greenspan's comment that she likes acting because it lets her experience another life without committing to it, the duo haven't invested their love story with a lot of personal nuance. They go broad, and Friedlander follows merrily along, pumping up the movie with gimmicks. When Friedlander illustrates an unexpected twist by inserting the sound of a needle being ripped off a record, it's becomes wincingly obvious that she's let the theater beat her senseless. - Noel Murray