Ben
Brantley

June 30, 2015

In the middle of a Scotch-and-tear-soaked session of recrimination and consolation with her two sisters, the kind that begins with insults and ends in a group hug, a woman named Jess sees fit to wail, “I am trapped in a bad chick flick.” You said it, Jess; not me. But I think you’re being a little hard on yourself. The play in which you are trapped, Melissa Ross’s “Of Good Stock,” actually feels like a better-than-average chick flick — well acted, smoothly paced, occasionally touching and, for those who indulge in such forms of reassurance, as comforting as a quart of mint chocolate chip ice cream, eaten straight from the container. See, I’m falling into the language of the genre myself, using that ice cream simile. Of course, this comic drama about the three romantically challenged daughters of a famous novelist, which opened on Tuesday night at Stage I of City Center, is replete with the clichés often found in lighter film fare starring the likes of Jennifer Aniston or Kate Hudson.