Five women meet in Miami for a bachelorette weekend, as one of them is due to be married soon.  Their wild frivolity soon rages out of control, leading to rampant drug use, the accidental death of a stripper, ridiculous attempts to dispose of the body, encounters with armed jewel robbers and, most importantly to the script, angry feelings between the women who were great friends in college but who have since gone their separate ways and grown apart.  These women are in big trouble but, as the movie proves, if they can get through the weekend alive, they can repair their friendships and can survive anything.

Lucia Aniello’s film (which she co-wrote) is a raucous, profane, nasty comedy with just enough heart to excuse some of its worst behavior.  It’s not my kind of movie; I am actually bummed to see Scarlett Johansson lowering herself to this material, while Jillian Bell seems to be making a career of it.  The others are Kate McKinnon (sporting a cockeyed Australian accent), Zoe Kravitz and Ilana Glazer.  Each actress has moments to shine and together they constitute a group of friends who seem real.  If the story weren’t so silly, contrived, ugly and dopey this could be a comedy (or better yet, a drama) worth watching.

It’s not all silly, contrived, ugly and dopey.  I liked the scenes involving the hedonistic neighbors (Ty Burrell and Demi Moore) who want to share their carnal happiness with everyone.  Almost all of the women feel and show the requisite guilt after killing someone (which is absolutely necessary) and real concern for each other when their own deaths are imminent.  The dramatic side of this dark comedy is pretty solid.  But then there is Scarlett’s fiancé (Paul W. Downs, who also shares scripting credit), who drives from Charleston to Miami in a diaper (sans pants) and arrives just in time to save the day.  Uggh.

I assume that this was intended to be a sexy comedy.  But it isn’t sexy, exposes no nudity, and carries far too many turn-offs — drug use, accidental killing, blood, violence, hatred, etc.  It isn’t very funny, either, for many of the same reasons.  It works best as a drama, but The Big Chill it isn’t.  Movies like this are supposed to be fun; this one is a cautionary tale about bad behavior that doesn’t have very much to offer, and will be quickly forgotten.  ☆ ☆.  23 June 2017.