Movie Review: 'B.A.P.S'

Two flashy girlfriends from Decatur, Ga., decked out in gold teeth and press-on nails, take their soul-sister selves to L.A. to audition for a music video, stumble their way into the home of a dying Beverly Hills millionaire, and get used to the good life in this Robert Townsend twist on Pretty Woman. The comedy, a first script from actress Troy Beyer (Eddie), is helped along by the pleasing sight of the usually soigne Halle Berry in big wigs, cutting up with full sitcom head wag. Lesser-known Natalie Desselle from Set It Off is a lively match as her rounder, rowdier friend. But B.A.P.S quickly loses its comic timing and deteriorates into a clumsily constructed fairy tale, made no more palatable by a dazed and doofus-y Martin Landau as the Rich Old White Guy. (The only white guy who keeps his dignity is the redoubtable Ian Richardson from the BBC miniseries House of Cards, who, as a dignified butler, picks up where John Gielgud left off in Arthur.) D+