‘The Five-Star Weekend’ Review: Jennifer Garner’s Grief Drama Is a Hoot

Following a recent widow trying to restart her life with a little help from her friends (and a ginormous oceanfront mansion), Peacock's adaptation of Erin Hilderbrand's novel can be the kind of silly, stupid hang worth savoring, when it's not adrift in prosaic melodrama — and sometimes, even when it is.

Before you click play on “The Five-Star Weekend,” Peacock‘s adaptation of Erin Hilderbrand’s 2023 book of the same name, you know what you’re in for — “Dead moms, cheating husbands, and soft cheeses!” That’s how Tatum (Chloë Sevigny) puts it, anyway, when Dru-Ann (Regina Hall) tells their forlorn friend Hollis (Jennifer Garner) that they are, in fact, “here for this.” Now, Dru-Ann really meant they came to Hollis’ palatial Nantucket estate prepared to spend the weekend embroiled in difficult conversations about grief, abandonment, and growing older, but Tatum’s interpretation is more fun, and in the moment, more effective.

The same can be said for the series. Creator Bekah Brunstetter mines plenty of hardship for big, weepy scenes set in gorgeous kitchens, lavish bedrooms, and stunning coastlines — every character is saddled with their own major burden to bear — but every seemingly insurmountable issue is diffused by Monday. Knowing they will be simultaneously undermines any real concern we might feel for the five stars and allows us to savor the funny bits, intentional or otherwise, sans remorse.

Also immensely helpful in making sure the good times trump the sad ones: Timothy Olyphant.

But let’s circle back to him, since “The Five-Star Weekend” reaches peak melancholy right out of the gate. Hollis, an upstart caterer turned wildly popular cooking influencer, is doing what she does best — baking treats for her family and recording every second of it for her fans — when red-and-blue lights shine through the window and there’s a harsh knock at the door. Her husband, Matthew (Josh Hamilton), is dead. Her daughter is now fatherless, and she is now a widow.

Her idyllic life ruined, Hollis tries to keep up appearances for her “Hungry with Hollis” community (we later learn she shared news of her husband’s passing via a somber white-text-on-black-background Instagram post… the same day he died), but a tearful breakdown on the “Today” show proves she can’t smile through her grief. She has to face it. She has to feel it.

To help get there, Hollis reluctantly agrees to her assistant’s suggestion: Throw a girls’ weekend and invite one friend from each phase of your life. That means Tatum, her childhood best friend, has to be there, despite taking a cancer screening earlier in the week and waiting to hear the results on Monday. Dru-Ann, her college bestie, also has to come, even though the ex-athlete and current sports agent is in the process of getting cancelled for repeatedly calling her young clients lazy.

Brooke (D’Arcy Carden), Hollis’ mom friend (they only know each other through their kids), also scores an invite and makes her way to Nantucket against her jerk husband’s wishes. (Charlie, played by Rob Huebel, wants her to stay home and prep for a deposition on Monday that’s meant to protect him from an intern’s sexual harassment accusation.) And last but also least is Gigi (Gemma Chan), a random fan Hollis started DMing after her husband died because it was easier for her to talk to a stranger than her actual friends.

In case that last tidbit didn’t make it clear, there’s a lot of tension in the group, even before Hollis’ homemade cocktails loosen everyone’s lips. Tatum and Dru-Ann have always been competitive over who’s closer to Hollis. Brooke has significant insecurity issues and can’t stop apologizing for self-perceived (and sometimes real) social faux pas. Gigi has secrets, because what kind of mysterious stranger shows up to a weekend getaway with four tight-knit friends without hiding something juicy?

Better still: What kind of friends spot Hollis’ high school sweetheart driving through town and fail to drag the silver fox in front of her every chance they get? Not this crew! Jack (Timothy Olyphant) is the dreamy “one that got away” who, this weekend, is always there to give Hollis a ride home, make her laugh, and clean her gutters (which is not a euphemism… or is it?).

Is it unbelievable for him to pop up every time he needs to? Absolutely. Is it impossible to believe such a perfect specimen of a human male would be on the market and more than interested in our very recent widow? Of course it is. Do I give a shit? Hell no. It’s Timothy Olyphant! Let the man do whatever he wants!

Olyphant effortlessly reestablishes his chemistry with former “Catch and Release” co-star Garner — but not only her; Jack has chemistry with everyone. He and Tatum share a ridiculous breakfast where he flippantly laughs off her accusation that he was aroused at the thought of Hollis’ late husband rotting underground. He tells Hollis’ daughter about all the times her mom broke bad in high school, somehow convincing her — and us — that Garner’s Type-A family woman used to smoke weed out of an apple in the middle of class. He’s a roguish Prince Charming who knows he’s a roguish Prince Charming, and his nearly meta self-awareness doesn’t impede our enjoyment of Jack one iota.

Perhaps Olyphant stands out so much because his character is transparently one thing, whereas similarly exciting talents like Sevigny, Hall, and Carden have to sell rounder arcs laden with melodramatic traps. They still do it, they just have too many scenes to be a guaranteed vibe-lifter, like Olyphant, in every one. Sevigny holds firm to Tatum’s hard-to-love jerkishness, which helps smooth over the serious arguments that can turn inadvertently silly (and amplifies the purely silly ones). Hall comes alive whenever she gets to crack jokes (a well-timed “bitch” sent me to the heavens), and Carden is treated like the comic relief even when Brooke doesn’t deserve to be. They’re all better served by the heartfelt and humorous beats, rather than the heartfelt and hurt ones.

Garner handles most of the hurt, which is fine. She’s done this before — and recently — so you know she can cry and break things with the best of ’em. But whenever she gets to dance like no one’s watching or down one too many tequila shots, the cumulative relief of seeing Garner cut loose overwhelms the drama’s familiar drudgery. “Yes!” you think. “Let Jennifer loosen up! Let the ladies have fun, damnit! That’s a five-star weekend!”

All told, and especially by the end, the limited series (which could, in theory, become an ongoing series) is best when it’s not taking itself too seriously. Sure, you know the heavy shit is coming — it’s what you signed up for — but it never feels so real or so grounded that you can’t laugh it off as cheap sentimentality. You can weep if you want to, but even the dead moms and cheating husbands don’t have to feel sullen. Just scoop another piece of soft cheese, shout one of Hall’s zingers back at the screen, and enjoy the grieving process.

Grade: C+

“The Five-Star Weekend” premieres Thursday, July 9 on Peacock. All eight episodes will be released at once.