The Five Star Weekend isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. Based on Elin Hilderbrand’s novel of the same name, the story is pretty simple, the execution is solid, and the characters are pretty archetypal. But what the show has going for it is the sensational cast of actors inhabiting this basic tale of friendship, grief, family, love, and loss. And that’s what takes what could be a really dull miniseries and turns it into a fun series that is worth a look – if this type of storytelling is your thing.
The Chick Lit vibes are clear within the premise of the series. Hollis (Jennifer Garner, a perfect choice), a food influencer with a brand-new cookbook, has had her life upended with the shocking death of her husband, Matthew. At the urging of her publicist, she decides to head out to her home on Nantucket (Hollis and Matthew were both incredibly successful, her with her writing and him as a doctor) and invites along four friends – one from each phase of her life. Tatum (Chloë Sevigny) was her childhood best friend, a woman who married her high school boyfriend and never left Nantucket. Dru-Ann (Regina Hall) was Hollis’ friend from college, a former professional athlete turned agent who just got herself into some hot water with comments about one of her athletes. Brooke (D’Arcy Carden) is Hollis’ friend through their kids – incredibly insecure and unable to stand up for herself while dealing with a crumbling marriage and an overbearing, older husband. And Gigi (Gemma Chan) is a fan of Hollis’ who has been helping her work through her grief as Gigi also lost someone close to her recently. And that’s not taking in account the supporting cast that includes Timothy Olyphant as Jack, Hollis’ old boyfriend who still holds a torch for her. See? This cast is absolutely stacked.
And it’s the cast that elevates the material from rote to watchable. Garner is able to channel Hollis’ pain, putting on a brave face while also not being afraid to veer into potentially unlikable territory as Hollis takes more from her friends than she offers in return. This isn’t some white hatted heroine, needing her friends to pull her from the depths of her grief. Rather, it’s a woman who isn’t able to stand still long enough to experience her grief, lest it overwhelm her completely, and who is also not able to see that those around her are dealing with some of their own complex emotions and struggles as well. Carden’s Brooke keeps a smile on her face as she sticks her head in the sand about, well, pretty much everything in her life that is bearing down on her. Hall and Sevigny both get to use their sharp, sarcastic wit to imbue Dru and Tatum with enough thorns to keep others away as they suffer on their own – with Dru, in particular, denying that she has a problem when she so very clearly does. And Chan is great as the cypher Gigi, whose role in the story won’t shock you (I saw it coming a mile away), but who is quite good at holding emotions just below the surface. There’s a lot of ego in these characters and a lot of pain – something that the show slowly teases out. Of course, if everyone were in therapy, perhaps there wouldn’t be the need for a girls’ trip weekend where they can all bare their souls? But where’s the fun in that.
I’ve repeatedly stated that the story isn’t anything special, and it isn’t. You’ll guess where it’s all going easily. And each character’s main flaw and main conundrum is laid out for you right out of the gate. The first episode is basically a series of vignettes introducing each of the friends and showing you what they are dealing with (and hinting at just what the solution might entail). It’s not a complicated drama. It’s a story about friends learning that they can lean on each other even when they think they have to struggle alone. And it’s fun – despite some of the darker moments within it – with solid comedic beats throughout (which, again, if you look at the cast, you know this is a group that can tackle comedy just as well as drama). With a different cast, I’m not sure what this show would be, but it certainly wouldn’t be as entertaining as it is. The Five Star Weekend isn’t a heavy lift of a series. But it’s never boring.
The Five Star Weekend premieres on Peacock on July 9th. All eight episodes were provided for review.
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