Melodrama gets a bad rap. It is often associated with exaggerated characters and situations. But life has a tendency to be melodramatic, and a story like “The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can Eat” told in an unabashedly heartfelt fashion with a screenplay by (under a pseudonym) Gina Prince-Bythewood and director Tina Mabry, putting the melodrama in the context of enduring, unconditional friendship over the decades. When the character are played by superb performers, seeing how they respond to the direst challenges life can present makes us feel that we are a part of that friendship, at least until the movie ends.

Based on the book by Edward Kelsey Moore, the story goes back and forth in time between the late 1960s and the present. Odette ( Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor of “King Richard” and “The Clark Sisters”) tells us that one connection with her two friends is their unusual origins. Odette was literally born in a sycamore tree. Her mother, past her due date, was told by a woman said to have mystical powers to sit on the branch of a sycamore tree and sing a hymn, and Odette arrived too fast for her to climb back down. She says she was “born off the ground and cursed with a life of fearlessness.” She grew up to be a caretaker who put others’ needs before her own.

Clarice (Uzo Aduba of “Orange is the New Black”) rebelled against her mother, who cared only what other people thought and wanted her to “put on a face and play perfect. She grew up to be a talented pianist with a fierce sense of justice. Barbara Jean (Sanaa Lathan of “Love and Basketball’ and “The Family that Preys”) was born into chaos and abuse, her mother a careless party girl, her father one of many possibles. When teenage Clarice (Abigail Achiri) and Odette (Kyanna Simone) rescue Barbara Jean (Tati Gabrielle) from her abusive stepfather, the three girls form an unbreakable bond. Big Earl (Tony Winters), the wise and generous owner of the diner where the whole community hangs out, says they are as sparkly as The Supremes, and the nickname sticks.

As in films like “Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood” and “Now and Then,” and “Steel Magnolias,” it is the enduring friendship (with a few bumps along the way) that is the focus. The three women have to deal with some of the most devastating setbacks and losses imaginable. Through it all, they rely on the endless, unquestioning support of their friendship (with a few hard truths). Gorgeous performances from the three stars, strong support from Winters, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Russell Hornsby, and Mekhi Phifer as the men in their lives, and thoughtful, sincere work from Mabry and Prince-Bythewood never let the movie get soapy or overdone.

Parents should know that this film includes sad deaths, including murder of a child and an adult, serious illness, alcoholism, adultery, domestic abuse, and violent racism. Characters use some strong language and there are sexual references and situations.

Family discussion: Which friend is most like you and why? Which is your favorite? How was each one’s childhood reflected in their adult lives?

If you like this, try: the 2012 remake of “Steel Magnolias” and “The Color Purple”